Champions of Geiis
by Demon of Zero
Summary: Ashford Academy was, oftentimes, a rather hectic place. Simple events often got blown out of proportion. But, really, what could possibly go wrong with something as inconsequential as a board game? As Lelouch was about to learn, the answer to that question was a rather simple "everything." (Rewrite of the previous Gods of Geiis.)
1. Chapter 1

So. This is a rewritten version of Gods of Geiss, as many may guess by the title. Some things will change, others will remain the same, however I DO expect a significant increase to the quality of the story itself. Whether or not it'll be amazing has yet to be seen, but it's going to be better than last time I assure you. Please feel free to point out any issues you see, as I am highly critical of this work in particular as I'm such a fan of the idea. Ah, and really quickly allow me to give a brief rundown of the concept for those of us that aren't familiar with the idea.

This particular idea began, in a sense, with Kyugan here on FF. He has a story that is essentially a list of plot bunnies, one of which contained "Lelouch of the Natural Twenty" in which Lelouch and company are sucked into a boardgame, a fantasy roleplaying board game. Having never seen this idea before for a Code Geass story, I was excited for any continuation... but none came. So in my infinite wisdom, I tried to write it.

I. Failed. Horribly.

The rewrite of my original pile of steaming garbage was marginally better. Enough so that I felt confident in the ideas at play, not the execution. Thus, I've rewritten chapter one from the ground up and am giving this another attempt, as this is a highly unique idea that I genuinely want to write.

Furthermore, I would like to thank Thanathos for all the helpful advice and other contributions he has made in this endeavor. If not for him, I doubt I would have gotten around to this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass in any way shape or form.

* * *

Ashford Academy, one of the most famous educational institutions in Area Eleven, was known for a few key things.

Firstly, it was established by Reuben Ashford, a nobleman who had lost much of his standing upon the death of Marianne vi Britannia, an Imperial Consort known across the world as "Marianne the Flash", a frighteningly skilled soldier who's ability in a Knightmare frame had been the stuff of legends. The "Commoner Empress" who had risen from her status as a simple soldier to become the wife of the 98th Emperor of Britannia, and the very same woman who was later killed in her own home under mysterious circumstances.

Before her passing, the Ashford Foundation had been the pinnacle of technological advancement in Britannia, having created the Ganymede that the late Empress had used as her weapon of choice.

With the passing of the Empress, their status had been almost entirely ruined. In the end, the man who had such close history with the Royal Family had simply gone on to open a school.

Secondly, Ashford Academy was well known for the excellent performance of it's students. Oftentimes Ashford was regarded as the best educational institution in the Area, with extremely well-qualified teaching staff and a solid curriculum with numerous electives and after-school activities encouraged. Graduates of the fairly new academy oftentimes went on to do exceptional things quite quickly, which gained some of it's noteworthiness.

And the third and final major contributor to Ashford Academy's notoriety was simple;

Reuben Ashford _loved_ a good party. Ashford Academy had the highest frequency of festivals and other events of any educational institution in Britannia. These events were typically large enough to warrant an entire day off from schooling, mystifying those who tried to explain how the school could keep their students well learned in such an environment. Surely such things would detract from their education, and should instead be moderated.

Anyone who brought this concern to the Headmaster of the academy would be met with an incredulous stare and copies of test scores to prove their point invalid.

It was for these three key points that Ashford Academy was so well recognized.

And for that reason, it would normally come as no surprise to any observer to see just how ridiculous a typical day in the lives of Ashford Academy's student council was.

But considering the group's ranks consisted of three Knights of the Round, young prodigies who had been inducted into the highest military organization within Britannia despite still being in school, it was certainly an interesting group. Of course, one could easily think that the inclusion of such high ranking military members would lead to a rather efficient and organized council...

But as Lelouch watched the antics of the Knight of Three, Gino Weinberg, as he harassed the blue-haired treasurer of their council, the Vice President of the student council couldn't help but sigh at how ludicrous such expectations would be if the people making them had even met these Knights. Out of the trio, the only one who even remotely lived up to that expectation would be Suzaku... but the brunette was not even remotely good at work of this sort.

As of now, the council was simply gathered up within their council room awaiting the arrival of their President, who had called them all together for an announcement. Luckily, despite their military background the trio of Knights had been able to attend due to clear schedules.

Thus, the council as of now had assembled within a single room and they were now occupying themselves until the arrival of the student council President.

"So any idea what Milly called us out for today anyway?" Gino asked casually, despite keeping Rivalz captured in a playful headlock. The blonde knight's eyes sparkled mischievously at his question, knowing his familiarity with the buxom blonde girl would antagonize the bluenette even further.

Grunting in annoyance, the boy in question replied. "It's Madame President to you, pretty boy." Despite being held so easily, Rivalz was unimpressed by the fact that Gino could restrain him like this. Considering the guy was a member of the military, and even further that he was one of the Knights of the Round, it really was no surprise. Rivalz was, after all, just a regular civilian. "But yeah, I've got no idea what she has planned either." Their President could be quite whimsical at times, and so sudden meetings like this weren't unusual... but the contents of the meetings tended to be odd in some fashion or another. That was just her way, though.

Seated on a couch near the television in the room, Shirley chimed in as she turned to regard the rest of the council for the first time in a little while, having been off in her own world. "She told me it was a surprise for us, but didn't say anything more. I think I heard something about her going to the airport to pick someone up, though." The bubbly orangette blinked at the situation Rivalz was in, before shrugging it off as just another oddity of their group.

"Oh, surprises? I love surprises!" Gino cheered, throwing his arms into the air and releasing Rivalz unintentionally, allowing the bluenette to drop lackadaisically to the ground, much like a puppet with it's strings cut.

Another annoyed grunt made it's way from the treasurer's throat. "Of course you do." He mumbled, picking himself off the ground and dusting himself off lightly.

"Recorded." A monotone voice cut in, drawing attention the the youngest member of the council. Anya Alstreim, Knight of Six, was not a very emotive girl. As a matter of fact, no one there could even claim to remember seeing her smile without any sort of coercion from Gino. And those smiles were quite obviously forced just to appease the blonde.

It was honestly really unnerving to try and imagine what made someone that way, especially a girl so young.

At the moment, the girl had just snapped a picture of the scene Gino had made, managing to catch an image of Rivalz mid-fall as Gino threw his arms up in the air.

According to Anya, these pictures were her memories. No further explanation was given to anyone who asked. She was often left alone in her own little corner of the council room, unmolested by anyone except the occasional fancy of Gino's that drew him over to bother her. The girl didn't seem to mind the isolation.

Of all the Knights in the room, Lelouch could plainly say she unnerved him the most. As a Britannian citizen perhaps it would seem strange that he was unnerved at all by these Knights, but it was easy to see why if one knew just what the dark haired vice president did outside of school.

'They really did come here just to play, didn't they?' The part-time rebel thought to himself as his cool gaze swept over the council members, settling on Anya for a few moments longer than the others. 'And there's still those concerns about that picture.' He pondered idly, drawing his gaze away from the lackadaisical girl before she could realize he was looking at her.

One of Anya's many "memories" had drawn a lot of her curiosity towards him. A single picture, taken long ago. A young boy holding a rose, garbed in fine whites and golds, smiling a warm, charming smile towards the camera and, presumably, the girl behind the camera. A boy with dark hair and eyes of amethyst, surrounded by a beautiful garden that was well kept and hauntingly familiar.

The title of the picture was simple; a single word. A name.

His name. Lelouch. How had that picture come into her hands? No, that much had been obvious from the start; clearly, the girl had taken that picture while they were both younger. The real question wasn't how, but rather why? Why did Anya Alstreim have a picture of him on her little pink phone, the thing she almost religiously updated with new pictures, constantly looked over and managed, where her "memories" resided? At what point had she taken that picture, and why couldn't he remember it? Judging by his age in the photo, he would've been around ten. That would have been during his time in the Aries Villa, when he went by the name vi Britannia.

Lelouch Lamprouge was more than a simple schoolboy. He was, in truth, a prince of Britannia exiled nearly a decade prior for standing against the Emperor's decision to call off investigations on his mother's assassination. On that day, he had demanded answers from that man. Why was his mother dead? Marianne vi Britannia, the Flash herself, was gunned down within her own home? Why would such a thing have happened? Such a bold assassination was unheard of within the Royal Family. How had the culprit escaped from such a thing unhindered, and what possible reason could there be for him to call off the investigation? Didn't he care about them?

The answer to that question had come as a resounding "no" as the Emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia himself, had declared his son nothing more than a corpse living off the merit of others, and sent the boy and his freshly crippled sister to Japan to serve as political hostages. Nunnally, his beloved sister who had been blinded and robbed of her ability to walk, was forced to separate from everyone she had ever known immediately after losing her mother and freedom to move.

But before such harsh times had fallen upon them, the siblings had lived a lavish life within a beautiful home, the Aries Villa. They had a loving mother, helpful servants at every turn, and a wide garden to play in and explore to their heart's content. In the early years of their lives, the two siblings had been in an idyllic fantasy-land, unconcerned about the troubles of the world beyond the walls of their home.

And besides the two siblings and their mother, there had been one other permanent resident of their home. A young girl who had been accepted into their household in order to receive etiquette lessons from their mother, a shy little thing with pink hair and ruby eyes. Despite the many friendly faces around, the girl had never seemed completely at ease unless directly accompanied by the Empress herself.

Anya Alstreim had been a part of his life during those carefree years, but not close enough to warrant him consenting to posing for a picture. He despised having his picture taken. Loathed it, even. His distaste for the idea of having his image captured had only grown after he'd gone into hiding, but it had always been present. For her to have taken a picture of him, a picture he had knowingly posed for, she would have had to be closer to him than what his memories implied.

And the thought of that genuinely scared him, because he had a strong suspicion as to how such a thing could happen.

Charles zi Britannia was in possession of Geass, a mystical power that manifested in different ways for each user. It was a power that Lelouch also held, one that had served as both a blessing and a curse. Where his power was that of absolute obedience, the ability to bend the will of a human being to his own so completely that they couldn't dream of resisting, his father held a power equally as dangerous.

Memories meant nothing to a man who could rewrite them at will. And that power was in the hands of a man who would throw away his children as pawns, a man who had no qualms about stealing away precious memories and replacing them with falsehoods.

Anya kept "memories" on her phone, implying she couldn't trust anything she didn't have concrete proof of. He himself could not remember posing for that picture, despite the fact that he had clearly done so. Such an event should have been memorable to him, because he could keep clear track of every other time he had been photographed with his consent in the last seven years.

And the amount of times that had happened could be counted on both hands.

After thinking things through time and time again, he could see no explanation for that picture's existence. And that pointed to tampering. Perhaps that same tampering could be related to how Anya behaved, because her attitude was not normal. People should not act like that. Even C.C., who had lived many lifetimes and suffered the pain of death hundreds of times without release, was not so... damaged.

It was disturbing, not only because of the way she was, but due to the fact that this condition seemed to have been forced on the girl for some purpose.

"Yeeeeeeow!" A strangled yelp forcefully drew Lelouch's mind back to the world around him. Noticing the cause, Lelouch wasn't able to contain his humor at the sight of Suzaku nursing his injured finger after having it caught between Arthur's jaws.

For whatever reason, Arthur seemed overly antagonistic towards the young man that had first found him. Not in such a way that he didn't like the boy at all, because there were days when Suzaku would go an entire day without any issue... but every so often, Arthur would just take a chance to bite the brunette. Usually his finger ended up being the victim of this attack.

Lelouch couldn't admit it in present company, but he genuinely enjoyed each and every one of those incidents. They brought a warm, fuzzy feeling to his chest.

Long gone were the days that Kururugi Suzaku could be considered his best friend. On both ends of the spectrum, they had hurt one another too much for reconciliation between the two of them.

He had wronged Suzaku greatly; the woman he had fallen in love with, the kind princess who had brought light to the darkness of the world. The idealistic girl who had wanted peace, a real lasting peace, who had fought in her own way to achieve it...

And he had killed her. Gunned her down in cold blood after ordering her with his Geass to commit genocide. Dragged her name through the mud in order to salvage the horrible situation he had caused.

Worst of all, it had all been an accident. A stupid little mistake. And he could never have predicted it; who would have been able to see that coming? He had been warned that Geass could run rampant, that he could lose control... but what were the odds that it would do so at such a horrible time?

But it didn't matter. Not anymore. What's done is done, and nothing he could do would change that. He had murdered Euphemia li Britannia in cold blood, taken the love of Suzaku's life from him.

And in return, Suzaku had used Nunnally to try and weasel a confession out of him. His beloved little sister who he hadn't seen in a year, the light of his world and the entire reason he had started to fight for a better tomorrow.

His darling little sister, who he had tried his hardest to protect from the filthy world of politics, who he wanted to live happily unconcerned with such things. His little sister who deserved more than to be used as a tool.

And Suzaku had gone and done just that. The Japanese teen knew, he _knew_ just how important Nunnally was to him. And knowing that, and likely _because_ of that knowledge, he had the gall to use her like a tool to try and determine whether or not his memories had returned.

They had antagonized one another before; Zero had constantly been making the military's life harder, whereas Suzaku had been a constant thorn in the side of the rebellion. But those things, Lelouch was sure they could have forgiven one another for eventually.

This was not something they could ever forgive one another for. But at the very least, Lelouch would allow the boy who had become one of his first friends to go on believing he had mercilessly used Euphemia, intentionally destroyed her reputation and brought her life to an end. Perhaps it seemed cruel, but Lelouch wasn't sure what the truth would do to Suzaku. How would he react when it turned out that his hatred was unjustified, that Lelouch had been just as much of a victim as him? It was cruel to lead him on like this... but at the same time, it would have been crueler to reveal the truth.

It would be easier on the brunette this way. Lelouch would at least allow him that. Though there were days he had considered revealing the truth to Suzaku, the urge had never been so strong as that day he had tried to use Nunnally like a tool.

That was simply unforgivable. Stooping so low as that... it made him furious just thinking about it, but one good thing did come of that situation. He'd been able to speak freely with Nunnally, after so long he had been able to tell her he loved her.

And it was all thanks to Rolo, the cherubic little assassin that had been playing the role of his brother for the past year or so. The boy had proven useful, that much was for sure, but on some level Lelouch was beginning to genuinely appreciate him. Perhaps there was some merit to the lie he had fed him that day.

After all, the year he had spent with his memories altered had been a year he spent side-by-side with Rolo, and those memories were not false.

Seeing genuine emotion light up behind those eyes just because he showed the smallest compassion to the boy made it hard to hate him, especially after learning just how horrible his situation had been.

Rolo was a weapon through and through; he had never gotten the chance to be a human being, never been more than a tool. Even as he masqueraded as Rolo Lamprouge, he was not truly a person. Merely a tool to keep tabs on Lelouch... and a tool that was beginning to dull as time went on.

After his temper had cooled from the initial anger of someone trying to take Nunnally's place in his life, Lelouch had come to the startling realization that Rolo was living the life he desperately fought to keep Nunnally from enduring. Having no value except as a tool, being nothing but an expendable. A pawn that could easily be sacrificed.

No child deserved such a fate, did they? To have the right to choose their future stolen from them?

Hating the boy for something completely outside of his control left an awful taste in Lelouch's mouth when he had finally understood just how unfair such a thing was. Wasn't he trying to build a fair and just world for Nunnally? If that was true, wouldn't that mean Rolo deserved a chance to be more than a simple tool?

Of course, that did not detract in any way from the simple fact that Rolo was _dangerous._ Incredibly so. Really, the boy was the perfect assassin considering his ability and utter lack of morality, and the sudden introduction of actual protective instinct had done nothing more than make him even more volatile. It was just a matter of time before someone got hurt because Rolo did not value human lives at all, with exception to his big brother's.

Despite the fact that he deserved a chance to become something more than a weapon, that did not mean Lelouch would ignore the fact that he had a murderous sociopath for a little brother.

Steps had been taken to prevent Rolo from harming anyone important. It was pivotal that the boy learn the value of human life. If killing was always his first option, eventually it would lead to someone Lelouch cared about getting hurt. That instinct needed to be stamped out of him as soon as possible before Rolo ended up doing something they would both regret.

Lelouch sighed lightly, propping his cheek against his hand. A small smile came to his lips as his thoughts took a turn back towards the student council as a whole, with everyone just interacting casually. 'It's too bad these days can't go on forever.' Despite the fact that they were enemies, Anya and Gino had both made their own impression on the council. They fit in rather well. Lelouch would admit to himself that he was honestly starting to like the two of them.

Suzaku's smile... was... well, it was bittersweet. On the one hand, there was still a part of him that wished the two of them could remain friends... but at the same time, the realist in him knew such a thing was impossible. Even so, seeing the smile on his old friend's face brought back memories of childhood, happier times... but even those didn't bring much joy to him in the present, seeing as they would remain nothing but memories.

The remaining members of the group were civilians; Rivalz and Shirley. Rivalz, unlike Shirley, had yet to be drawn in to the conflict surrounding him, still living on blissfully ignorant with exception to a single factor.

None of his friends from Ashford Academy had been allowed to retain their memories of him, and their minds had been tampered with by Charles zi Britannia in order to construct this elaborate prison he had been trapped within. Outside of this, Rivalz had not been negatively impacted by his actions.

However, for Shirley... it was better that way. It wasn't the first time her memories had been tampered with, though his own meddling had been with much more blunt force and better intentions.

He had simply ordered her to forget about him. Everything about him, because the things she knew and the things her mind had been filled with were driving her to the brink of sanity. She had forgotten all of their interactions in school, forgotten how fervently she had pursued his affections, forgotten that they were close friends... and forgotten that he had been the one to kill her father. Forgotten how she had been manipulated by Mao, and how close she had come to killing them both in her hysterics.

In a way, Lelouch held some modicum of gratitude towards his father's actions. Shirley's mind had not been repaired by any means, but she was spared from the horrible secrets that Mao had used to drive her to the breaking point. It was unforgivable to tamper with someone's life in such a way, he admitted, and he himself still felt guilt from being the first to do such a thing to the bubbly orangette... but she had needed it. Shirley couldn't go on the way she had been with the knowledge of Zero's identity. At the very least his father had replaced the enormous blank in her memory with false memories that left her less concerned.

He felt his mood drop, though the smiling facade remained. 'I've gone and depressed myself.' Lelouch admonished himself for turning his mind towards such stormy waters. The atmosphere was so jovial within the council, but beneath the brightness and color and joy he could practically see the bubbling darkness, a murky ooze that seeped through the cracks of the 'normal' lives they led. Beneath the joyful exterior, there was a war going on.

Indeed, these days were all around bittersweet. As much as he enjoyed the simple moments like this, it was spoiled by the knowledge that these days were bound to end soon. Soon, he was going to drown the nation in conflict once again and finally remove his father from power, destroy the empire that man had created, and finally rebuild it into a nation worthy of Nunnally.

And from there, he would move on to the world. It wasn't just Britannia that needed to change; the EU and China both needed some serious work. As of right now, the Holy Empire of Britannia was a much better alternative for living than either of those two superpowers. As a matter of fact, if one was a pureblooded Britannian in Britannia there was next to no reason to worry in this world; so long as you were a simple working class, you could eke out your living without much trouble and live a perfectly peaceful life. Britannia's standard of living was the highest in the world for it's citizens.

If that system expanded to the numerous conquered territories, perhaps the destruction of this nation wouldn't have been his priority. But right now there were people suffering under Britannia's rule, he was already in Britannia, and honestly he had a grudge. Lelouch could admit that he had been nursing this hatred for his home country for years, and that it influenced much of his decision making to some degree. But it was well under control, he would not be so weak as to let his own anger consume him.

Movement in his peripheral drew the dark haired teen from his thoughts. A sudden shock of pink appeared in his view as he turned towards the movement, revealing the dull ruby eyes of the Knight of Three as she aimed her phone at him, prepped to take a picture.

Due to her rather surprising appearance at his side, the boy very nearly failed to block the camera with his hand. Thankfully for his personal sanity, however, the camera flash was muted behind his hand, leaving nothing but a blur on her phone's screen after the fact.

"..." Anya stared.

"..." Lelouch returned the stare.

"... huh." Anya released a small sigh in response to his stare. "... you did it again." She mumbled lackadaisically, her monotone never wavering for even a moment.

Lelouch stood his ground under the assault of her deadpan stare. "That should be my line, Anya. I've asked you to stop that." He didn't particularly expect her to, but still it needed to be said.

"..." Her silent stare continued, head tilting slightly to the side. "... oh. That's right." The girl nodded lightly to herself, as if to confirm that statement. "You did."

"Yes." Lelouch grunted in annoyance. "I did."

"I forgot." Anya replied shamelessly and without any change to her expression.

"I'm aware." He noted in a deadpan of his own.

"... sorry?" It should be said that as Knight of Three Anya did not often need to apologize, and was somewhat unfamiliar with the concept. Thus, her apology came as more of a question than anything.

Lelouch released a deep sigh. "We both know you're really not." He accused lightly, having accepted the constant attempts to get a picture of him as just another quirk of this bizarre, broken little girl.

"... huh." Anya blinked. People didn't usually call her on that, but he wasn't wrong. Anya didn't really feel guilt. Or... well... anything. Emotions were not easy to express when one hardly had them to begin with. Nodding again to herself, the girl turned and made her way back to the isolated seat she had chosen in the corner of the room, having gotten all she needed from the interaction with the black haired teen.

That girl had been trying to snap a picture of him ever since she had noticed the picture on her phone matching his appearance and name. He didn't really know what she wanted with a picture of his face, but Lelouch was paranoid and as such he didn't appreciate the gesture. However, after so many times of having to block her shot with his hand or other objects, the dark haired teen was used to her newly found obsession over getting a picture of him.

The interaction between the two of them drew bemused glances from the remainder of the council. "... Gino, no offense, but Anya scares me sometimes." Rivalz announced jokingly to the blonde Knight.

"What? How can you be scared of that? She's adorable." Gino replied with a grin. "Watching her stumble through social interaction is great." She was like a really awkward kitten. She would usually settle off on her own, ignore you unless she needed something from you or had a sudden flight of fancy, and when her attention was on you it was easy to tell because she was blatant about it. However, considering her social skills were practically nonexistent, the times she did decide to interact with someone it was bound to be hysterical.

Briefly dropping the joking tone, Rivalz gave his response in a quieter tone. "No, I mean I'm scared for her." Seriously, that girl wasn't just "not normal". There was legitimately something wrong with her mind and as a relatively upstanding person he was honestly concerned about it. Why was she like that?

Grin falling from his face, the blonde Knight sighed. "Yeah... I know." It wasn't something he could really do anything about though. He had no idea what made her that way, but it really was kind of unsettling to see anyone in such a state. The girl was practically a robot, going through the motions of living without any enthusiasm for it. He'd known her for a fair amount of time by this point and had yet to see her crack a smile. "But it's something I've gotten used to, bud." He was already in way too deep to just walk away now, oh no. Even if Anya would probably end up forgetting him in like a couple weeks he wasn't just going to walk out of her life.

Rivalz blinked. "... I don't think I'll ever get used to it." Anya really did creep him out sometimes. Sometimes he could honestly believe the girl was just a lifeless doll someone had snuck into the room when no one was looking.

"I just wonder how she ended up like that." Shirley chimed in quietly, taking great pains to ensure that the pinkette in question was out of hearing range. "The way she acts is just... weird." A sheepish smile came to her face as she failed to find a word to properly describe Anya's behavior. Recovering admirably, she continued. "People don't just develop that way unless something happens to them." What kind of trauma did someone have to go through to end up as damaged as this girl? Was this the result of her being in the military at such a young age?

Suzaku contributed his own thoughts on the matter. "I don't really know why she ended up like this, but... well, she is that way." He shrugged under the glances he received, a slightly flustered look coming to his face at the scrutiny. "Er, rather... if she's our friend, we should just accept her despite her quirks. Or at least, that's what I think." So she was weird, that much was true. And perhaps there was legitimately something wrong with her head that caused this, but he had no idea what it would be.

... well, actually, no. Suzaku had a very good idea of what could cause her behavior.

But he barely understood that awful power in the first place, so it was hard to just blame Geass for this. Despite that, a feeling in his gut made him feel like that disgusting ability was at fault somehow. As such, he would just move on. In the end, it didn't matter. Anya was Anya and she was how she was. If there was a way to figure out the exact cause of her mental issues, that could be worked out once the world was at peace under Britannia. There would be no shortage of time then.

"That works fine so long as she doesn't end up hurting herself or someone else." Lelouch said, glancing towards the girl who had moved to the far side of the room by herself, out of earshot of their fairly quiet conversation and busying herself with her phone. "However, conditions like this are unsettling in that you can never know just what may cause someone to snap." It was a rather cruel thing to say, but entirely true. Her mental state could not be stable, not if his suspicions were correct and his father's Geass was to blame. Who knows just how much tampering had been done with Anya's mind? Lelouch shuddered to imagine what kind of things that man could learn to do with the power to freely manipulate memories.

If Rolo, who had been broken in and trained to be nothing more than a weapon, could express his genuine emotions while Anya seemed entirely incapable of emotion... what in the world had been done to her?

"... that's a harsh thing to say, Lelouch." Suzaku mumbled weakly. Even with his memories sealed, Lelouch could be such a downer.

Lelouch shrugged lightly. "It's not unfair, though." Seeing the gazes of the other teens on him, the dark haired youth explained further. "She's a sixteen year old girl with some sort of severe emotional disorder who has been in the military for much longer than either Gino or Suzaku." Which was terrifying in it's own right. Anya's life up to this point had consisted of her childhood before meeting his mother, her childhood during that time, and then an undisclosed amount of time being groomed for a position in the military after his mother's death. "Can no one see how that could be an issue?"

Both Gino and Suzaku grimaced, clearly realizing the point he was making. They both remembered quite clearly just how easily Anya had blasted an allied ship out of the sky to save a second ship from a collision. While it was a sound decision tactically speaking, her complete disregard for human life and lack of any hesitation had been unsettling.

"Big brother is always worrying about someone." Rolo piped up lightly, smiling towards the older boy. "Trying to figure out everyone's problems and the ways to fix them, you wear yourself out thinking of all the bad stuff that could happen if you can't fix it." The smile became teasing as he continued on. "It's probably why you're so grouchy, big brother."

An amused snort came from the teen in question. "Maybe so." He replied idly, musing on Rolo's words as he let the conversation drop. While it was a jest from the point of view of the council, it did have some truth to it. Though he tended to worry about these things in relation to how they would later affect him, he did dedicate quite some thought to various attempted solutions and his mind always did draw to the worst conclusions.

The somber mood dissipated fairly quickly after Rolo's little jibe at his brother, drawing the social members of the council away from the fairly depressing topic of Anya's issues.

It couldn't have come at a better time, Lelouch noted in amusement, because Milly would have felt really awkward with her flashy entrance if she had jumped into the middle of that atmosphere.

"BEHOLD, MY LOYAL SUBJECTS!" The boisterous blonde shouted, stepping through the door with a flourish. Her hand flew out before her, holding a fairly old looking suitcase. "I come before thee bearing gifts!"

Everyone blinked with the exception of Anya, who had been entirely unconcerned after a brief glance upwards at the entrance.

"... what's in the suitcase?" Rivalz asked, seeing as how no one else seemed to be saying anything. More likely than not Lelouch just didn't want anything to do with it, but the others just seemed to be caught up in the moment.

"Not just yet, oh master of the treasury!" Milly shouted, pointing a finger towards the bluenette chidingly. "For this is the second surprise I bring," after this she dropped the rather flowery and flamboyant speech and switched back to he usual way of speaking. "And these things are meant to be done in order, you know."

Ignoring the fact that she had been the one to draw attention to the damn case in the first place, Lelouch went against his better judgement and asked the question she was clearly prompting. "If that's the case, Milly, then what's the first surprise?" He spoke as though he were speaking to a child... and in a lot of ways, Milly was like a child. She was bossy, whimsical, and at times adorable... while still being capable of making dread rise in his chest with a mere facial expression.

Throwing her arms up at the question she had wanted to hear, Milly turned and walked back into the hallway, clearly intending to get something. Or someone, judging by the startled squeak they heard from the hall.

Shortly after leaving the room, Milly returned half-shoving another person into the room enthusiastically. The original members of the council gasped in surprise at the sight of the figure, who had clearly been hurried into the room in a manner different than their original expectations.

"... h-hello again everyone." Nina Einstein mumbled out, her shy side evident once again as she had been paraded into the room like some sort of trophy. "Prince Schneizel gave me some t-time off, so I decided I would come visit... if it's not a bother?" At the end of her statement, she had begun idly playing with the string of the hoodie she had chosen as her casual clothing for the day.

"Nina!" Shirley recovered from her surprise quickly, rushing over towards the green haired girl with surprising speed and unsurprising energy, clearing half of the room in what seemed like less than a second.

"E-Eep!" The scientist girl squeaked at the sudden movement, having a very strong suspicion of what was going to happen next. A moment later her suspicions were confirmed as a pair of arms snaked around her shoulders, and another body knocked the wind out of her with a sudden impact.

"We missed you so much!" Shirley cried happily, forgetting the rather frail constitution of the other girl and squeezing her tightly. "Of course you're welcome to stay as long as you like!" She announced happily.

"... Shirley I think you're smothering her." Milly noted in a deadpan tone, as Shirley's boundless enthusiasm had resulted in what was half a tackle and half a hug, leaving Nina's face buried in the orangette's chest, with the bubbly girl too happy to notice or care. "Not that it'd be a bad way to go, of course." A lecherous smirk found it's way to the blonde's face. "But still. People need air a bit more than they need boobs."

At that rather blunt declaration, Shirley finally realized that she had been pressing Nina into her bust quite tightly and released the girl with a squeak. "A-ah, I'm so sorry Nina!" The girl apologized frantically, noticing the rather wobbly stance of the smaller girl she had just released from her embrace.

"N-no, it's f-fine Shirley. I-I'm g-glad to see you t-too." Nina stumbled through her sentence, a heavy flush across her cheeks as she steadied herself. She had not been prepared for such a fierce hug and, really, that was just poor planning on her part. She really should have seen that coming, knowing Shirley as well as she did. But goodness did Shirley have a nice pair of- no, no, bad thoughts.

"Anyhoo!" Milly announced, drawing attention back to her and away from the blushing scientist. "So I'm fairly certain everyone here knows each-other in some way shape of form, but for reference sake Nina was a member of our council back before Prince Schneizel snatched her away for his science things." She shrugged at that, releasing an exasperated sigh. "Which, of course, doubled the workload of our poor Vice President since none of us can be trusted with paperwork."

"... you tried to fill it out in crayon, Milly." Lelouch interrupted dryly. "Multiple colors of crayon, actually. Each letter was a different color of the rainbow, cycling from one end of the spectrum to the other." The dedication would have been admirable if it hadn't been something that caused more trouble for him.

"Regardless!" The student council president blatantly ignored her second-in-command's complaints. "Nina was a member of our merry band back when we first assembled this council. Introductions are now finished because anyone who's hanging around a prince probably knows who our newest members are, and I don't want to introduce anyone else." She waved a hand in the air cheerfully, as if to say "that's all folks."

Whimsical. Bossy. And at times, adorable. This was not one of those times, Lelouch noted as he took stock of Nina's reaction.

Something had caught his interest. The girl's expression remained fairly normal up until her gaze passed over him... no, wait, not just him. She was looking beside him now, at Rolo. Confusion came to her face for a brief moment before it was hidden away with a fair amount of expertise.

'Could it be that... no, surely he wouldn't have.' Had his father truly managed to miss Nina? Were her memories really still intact? Dear lord that could be hideously problematic, but at the same time there may be some sort of potential...

No, actually, there was nothing he could make use of. Nina despised him, even if she didn't know it yet. Zero had taken Princess Euphemia away from the world, and right now there were three people in the room who were deeply affected by that loss, one of them being her killer. It stood to reason that the other two would never be anything but enemies from this point forward.

'Something needs to be done about that.' Lelouch decided after a moment's consideration, using the distraction caused by Milly's final announcement to give Rolo a warning glance.

The "something" that needed to be done about Nina's memory would not include murdering her and hiding the body, and his brief glance towards the cherubic assassin made him aware of that fact. He knew full well that Nina would hate him after learning just who he was, especially considering she had already tried to stab him once... but he wasn't going to kill her for that. She was a friend, a friend he had wronged. And unlike Suzaku, she hadn't knowingly done anything to him considering the fact that she had no idea who was behind Zero's mask.

This was going to be something he needed to deal with very carefully, because Nina knew a lot more about him than he was comfortable with. After all, if Nunnally vi Britannia was a princess of Britannia, wouldn't that make her big brother prince Lelouch vi Britannia? It was good that the girl had kept quiet, though he could tell from the occasional glance in his direction that it was running through her head.

"Soooo..." Rivalz drawled, catching the attention of everyone but Anya. "What's in the suitcase?"

Milly blinked. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Too busy replaying the image of Shirley's hug in my head." Ignoring the glare from said girl, she walked over to the table and set the case down with a hearty thump. "This, my dear minions, is how we're going to spend the afternoon." And possibly the evening if this game ran on as long as she suspected it could.

Finally seeing the other side of the case, which had been hidden from them by Milly up until that point, the members of the council were surprised at what they saw as the blonde opened the case, revealing a myriad of different items. An old looking leatherbound book, a large stack of paper that appeared to be character sheets, and a folded gameboard. Off to the side there seemed to be a few small figures, perhaps two and a half inches tall at most, sectioned away where they wouldn't be damaged by any potential jostling of the case.

"... is this what I think it is, Milly?" Lelouch questioned, catching sight of nameplate on the front of the case. "Geiss: Godsrealm, this is one of those old tabletop roleplaying games isn't it?" Where in the world did she find one of these things? They weren't particularly common in this day and age, and moreover he didn't really know why Milly would even have any interest in them.

"Yep!" Milly chirped, clapping her hands together happily. "And since we're all here with nothing to do for the rest of the night," which was partially due to her asking them to clear their schedules in preparation for this, but still. ", we're all going to play it!" She announced this in such a tone that it was clear she assumed it to be an undisputed fact.

"Sure, I'm in." Rivalz chimed in, unsurprisingly in agreement with the plan. Their resident treasurer was also something of a fantasy fan, and he was genuinely into the idea.

Gino grinned widely. "This sounds great. I've always wanted to mess around with one of these." As the son of a military man, his upbringing did not include such things. If it wasn't sports or academics, it wasn't something his parents wanted him having any part of. And when he'd later gone on to become a Knight, it didn't really open any avenues for such party-oriented play. He did, however, play the hell out of several different video games he'd never gotten the chance to indulge in. "How 'bout you, bud?" He turned towards Suzaku, the brunette blinking at the question.

"Ah... yeah, sure." He replied somewhat unsurely. "I've never really played one of these before, but I guess I'm sort of familiar with what they are." He nodded to himself after a moment of thought. "Yeah, as long as we have a rulebook I can manage." A small smile slipped onto his lips.

Nina and Shirley both seemed interested, though they weren't terribly excited it did seem like it would be an amusing way to spend some time.

Seeing everyone happily going along with her plans made Milly's smile grow wider. She turned her gaze towards Lelouch and Rolo, who had yet to speak.

"... No." Lelouch replied dully. "I'd rather not." It was a board game. He had other things that he could be doing right now. As a matter of fact, many of those things were work related to the council in the first place. She had plenty of people for it, though, so that was fine.

This took the wind out of Milly's sails. "What!? Why not?" She stomped her foot at him petulantly. "I know you don't have anything else to be doing." She accused.

Lelouch gave her a look. "Do you mean to tell me that the paperwork required for next week's event has already been filled out?" Pretty much everything had been finished and finalized with exception to the paperwork, but there was enough of _that_ to take one person a few hours to finish. He'd have it done in around an hour, but that was time he'd need to dedicate to it.

A devilish smile found it's way to the buxom blonde's lips. "Yes, actually, considering I went ahead and did that yesterday." She announced smugly, taking a deep satisfaction from the gobsmacked expression this put on Lelouch's face.

"You... you can't be serious." He mumbled, fixing a serious gaze on the girl's expression. "Milly, I swear to God if you are messing with me I'm going to get you back for this." He growled. Lelouch could get that kind of busywork done in an hour, but it would be something he did actually have to put effort into doing to achieve that time. For Milly, alone, it would have taken at least two or three hours because there was no way she would finish it in a single sitting.

It was around that point that he realized Milly could very well have taken three hours of her day yesterday, as there was no council meeting. As a matter of fact, he hadn't actually heard from her at all.

Her grin dropped. "I'm dead serious. You have no idea how tediou- oh wait." She gained a sheepish look as she realized just who she had been ready to say that to. "No, actually, you'd be the only one _to_ know that wouldn't you?" Milly chuckled at the dull look this got her. "But yeah no, you're playing this damn game." She was not taking no for an answer at this point. "I did _not_ sit around doing paperwork for several hours just to have you weasel your way out of this somehow. So sit down, shut up, and spend some time enjoying yourself instead of working." She punctuated that announcement by slamming a hand onto the table.

"Fine." Lelouch relented with a wry smile. "If you went to the trouble of actually _doing your job_ for once I should at least make it worth your effort." It had to be emphasized; this was the first time in a very, very long time he had actually seen Milly put effort into the things that were, for all intents and purposes, her responsibility as the council president.

And it was done in order to leave him without a convenient excuse to skip out on one of her plans. That really put it into perspective just how Milly worked.

"Ooph!" Lelouch wheezed out as a heavy book landed in his lap suddenly, having been tossed expertly by the blonde she-demon herself. "Woman, what the hell was that for!?" He groused, directing an annoyed glare her way.

Milly's response came with her tongue being stuck out at him. "You're going to read the rules and explain how we play, smarty-pants."

"... you didn't read the rulebook?" Rivalz mumbled in surprise. "How long ago did you find this game again?"

The blonde blushed slightly at the scrutiny this drew. "H-hey! I had to rush to get everything set up so this could even happen, don't judge me!" Hmph! As if they had any idea how frantically she'd been dashing about trying to sort everything out, or how much effort she'd put in to making sure the paperwork had all been completed without any errors, making certain it was up to Lelouch's rather lofty standards so that he wouldn't have something else to hold over her head later. Even if she'd found the game a week ago and these plans were well on their way to becoming reality by the day after, they couldn't blame her for not finding the time to read the book.

Lelouch chuckled lightly, flipping the book open. "Despite the weight of this thing, it's not that long of a read it seems." Most of the weight of the book came from various pages regarding races and classes, the amount of chapters regarding gameplay didn't even make up a fourth of the book. So that was fine, since you could just flip through the race and class sections until something caught your eye. They were separated from the important gameplay and inventory chapters quite clearly.

"How much time do you think it'll take, big brother?" Rolo asked, leaning over the older boy's chair to glance at the book as his older brother quickly took in the information on the pages. Judging by how fast he'd turned the first page, Rolo could assume it wasn't going to take too long.

Noting Rolo's obvious attempt to get a reaction from Nina, which had resulted in a stunned blink from the girl, Lelouch replied. "Give me around ten minutes. Perhaps fifteen if I need to double check anything."

Nodding happily, Rolo stepped away. "Then I'll leave you to that, big brother." He said cheerfully, stepping towards the rest of the council with a smile. Pulling something from his pocket nearly caused Suzaku to have a heart attack, but seeing the rather innocent deck of cards the teen quickly calmed down. "Would anyone like to play Go Fish until big brother is done?" The boy asked with a positively angelic smile.

Lelouch had to restrain himself from showing how amused he was by the far too innocent looking killer. 'Rolo, that was beautiful.' He noted to himself, turning another page, hiding his wide smile behind the book. 'But at the same time, you're being a bit _too_ aggressive with your attempts to get under his skin. Doubtful he'll really notice,' Suzaku was never the sharpest tool in the shed, not to say he was particularly stupid but he was fairly dense, 'but it is still worth keeping in mind. I'll have to make sure he's more careful in the future.' Antagonizing Suzaku in subtle ways had become something of a hobby for Rolo once he'd really grasped how much Lelouch disliked the Japanese Knight.

The fact that Lelouch himself hadn't discouraged this behavior too harshly was probably why Rolo enjoyed it so much.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, Lelouch closed the book. The noise from this was just loud enough to draw everyone's attention. During the time it had taken for him to read the book, the group had been through a single game. Surprisingly enough, Gino had managed to convince Anya, who had previously been uninterested, to play the game.

Lelouch was unsure as to whether or not that was a good thing. Regardless, he made his announcement. "Right. I'm done. So, really, this whole game is quite simple." Of all the games he knew from this particular genre, this one was easily the simplest. It was clearly meant for a more casual experience. "First and foremost, you choose a race from the book. Once you've chosen your race, you move on to select a class. There are no restrictions as to what race can be what class, however keep in mind some are more suited to certain classes than others." He shrugged. "Once everyone has done that, we'll move on to then next step. So, volunteers?"

"Oh, oh, I wanna I wanna!" Rivalz exclaimed eagerly, dropping his hand on the table and accepting the book from the vice president. "Thanks, bud. I'll be done in a jiffy." After saying that, he blinked as he realized just how many pages there were. "... Uh. Well I mean I pretty much know what I wanna be classwise, so it'll be faster than otherwise..." Good grief, how many races were in this game? Man.

"I did spot one I think you would like, Rivalz." Lelouch noted idly, holding his hand out for the book again.

Rivalz shrugged, before handing the item back to the other teen. "What makes you say that?" He asked curiously. Rather than a legitimate answer, Lelouch just smirked and turned to a specific page before handing the leatherbound tome back to him. "Oh. Yeah, I can see why." Rivalz said as he looked over the page.

Satyrs, a humanoid race with hooves rather than feet. From their hooves up to around knee level, they had a layer of fur. Variation did exist, some were more heavily furred while others were slightly less. They had tails, usually around three feet long though again it differed from individual to individual. Horns of various shapes and sizes sprouted from their heads, and their ears were longer, ending in points that typically had just a bit of fur at the tip.

The racial overview made it fairly obvious why Lelouch thought this particular race suited him. "Most Satyr are easygoing and jovial, with a good sense of humor and the capacity to take a joke. Lighthearted pranks are commonplace within their communities, and any disputes one has with another can typically be settled by a drinking contest... which will, more often than not, turn into a party regardless of who won the argument."

Yeah, Lelouch picked a pretty good one. This was kind of interesting. Quickly skimming through the various bits on their more favored classes, Rivalz smirked when he spotted what he'd been looking for. "Satyrs, in addition to their innate proficiency communing with the natural world and spirits, make excellent Warriors. Satyr leg muscles are notably stronger than many other races, and their land speed is surprisingly high naturally. One could compare fighting a powerful Satyr Warrior to battling an entire stampede. While more form fitting armor may need to be custom make in order to provide full range of movement and coverage, many settlements have wares catered towards Satyr as the demand for such things grew."

That sounded neat. One of the things he'd been sort of concerned about as a heavy armor class was speed, but the bonuses of this race offset that pretty heavily with no major drawback. Of course, there was no major bonus towards tanking like the Half-Orc race he'd glanced at, but that shouldn't be too important. Tanks were tanks, and he would gladly trade some bulk for speed.

"Right. Yeah, I got what I wanted." A piece of paper was pushed into his hand by Lelouch. "Oh. Write my choices down here?"

Lelouch nodded, taking the book back. "Yes, for now we just have races and classes chosen, but we'll do this one or two at a time while everyone gets familiar with things." He wasn't going to just shove the whole creation process down their throats at once, because that would be too much information for a new player to face at once. Race and class would be first, the rest would follow after. "Next up?"

Rolo, having gathered the cards up, slipped them back into his pocket as he made his way over to Lelouch. "I'll go next, big brother."

Lelouch passed the book over to the younger boy with a small smile. "Any idea what you're looking for? I could offer some advice."

"I think I have a good idea what I want." Rolo replied cheerfully. "Ah! Here it is, Rogue." He smiled widely as he showed the page depicting the Rogue class to his older brother.

With a quirked eyebrow, Lelouch replied. "You know you need a race too, right?" His little brother was far too good at acting like a ditz.

The young boy gave his response easily. "I think I'll just be a human. They're usually all-arounders for these games, right?" Rolo asked.

Shrugging at that, Lelouch took the book back and passed the character sheet to Rolo. "Yes, they are. One of their passive traits is a boost to every stat." A small boost, added on after one rolled for their stats, but it scaled with level so that did become rather useful. It was the only real standout trait they had, however. "So you're a Human Rogue, then." Of course Rolo would choose to be an assassin of some sort. Because really, it was too obvious. It was also probably making Suzaku uncomfortable, so that was a plus.

"Yep. Thanks big brother." Rolo replied, accepting the sheet gratefully as he began to jot down his choices. "Who wants to go next?" He asked, looking up from his paper after he'd finished.

"I-I'll go." Nina surprised most of them by volunteering next, though none were more surprised than Lelouch as the girl made her way up to him. "M-May I?" She asked, extending a hand for the book.

Giving the girl a smile, Lelouch passed the book to her. "I didn't get the chance to say so earlier, but I'm glad to see you again Nina." And on much better terms than their previous meeting, thankfully. Otherwise she would have probably tried to shank him with that pen.

Flushing slightly, the bespectacled girl offered him a small smile but said nothing more, looking over the book. If she had any suspicions regarding him, they were well hidden at this point. More likely than not she would find a chance to confront him over the next few days, and that was where the difficult part would begin.

It was quite likely, Lelouch realized with an internal grimace, he would need to use his Geass on her in order to keep the situation under control.

"Hm... this l-looks interesting..." Nina mumbled quietly, looking over the page she had just turned to. On this page it detailed Beastfolk, a race of humans who bond from birth with animal spirits that roam their homeland. At birth the spirit joined the human, influencing their body as they grew, giving animalistic features to them and enhancing their senses. And at death, the spirit separated from them and returned to the Field of Ancients, the great expanse these spirits called home.

They were somewhat like humans in that they were well suited for nearly any class, though the variations in their individual traits was quite large. Based upon what animal spirit one had, they could find themselves less effective at certain roles another would excel at.

Reading on further, she nodded to herself lightly. "Yes, I think I like this one." They were interesting, more than some of the other races she'd come across. "Now, a class..." A small sigh slipped from her lips at that. She really had no idea what to choose here. These sort of games were never really her forte.

"Need some help deciding?" Lelouch asked, leaning forward to read the book over her shoulder. "I've skimmed through most of the book at this point, so I may be able to give some advice." He'd sort of taken a liking to this game. It was fairly entertaining just making a character.

Nina let out a small squeak, having been caught off guard by Lelouch's statement. "A-ah, yes... that would be nice." She conceded the book to him, allowing him to look over the page she had been reviewing.

Glancing at the race she'd chosen, Lelouch nodded. "Well, there are a few different classes you could go for. First of all, which animal did you choose?" There were several different choices, each with their own pros and cons all being listed at length. Beastfolk took up more pages than any other race in this book, because there were far more choices than anyone could ever need.

"S-snake." Nina replied quietly, flushing slightly at the quirked eyebrow. "I-I always liked them... but I never really liked the thought of f-feeding them l-live food, s-so I never owned one." She thought they could be quite cute, honestly, but the live feeding was just too much for her.

Shrugging at that, Lelouch pointed towards one of the many recommended classes. "Well, snake-folk have an aptitude for poison and a boost to their dexterity stat, which makes them well suited as rogues or archers."

"... archer, hm?" Nina mumbled to herself, as the purple eyed teen quickly flipped pages towards the page titled "Hunter", his proximity to her not going unnoticed by the other members of the council as they watched the two of them. "Oh, I see. That's interesting." She noted, quickly skimming the various class traits.

Hunters seemed to have a rather powerful combination of stealth and long range attacks, as well as having access to a fair amount of mid ranged skirmishing abilities. Close range seemed to be rather nonexistent for them, however. Any skill that had much use up close was typically something meant to get the Hunter further away from whatever it was used on. Traps seemed fun, as well.

The bespectacled girl nodded to herself, turning to face Lelouch with a small smile... only to squeak as she finally realized just how close the two of them had been for the past few minutes, scurrying away with a blush on her cheeks. "W-who's next?" She held the book out, burying her face in her hood as it occurred to her that the others had been staring.

Letting out a small snicker, Gino pranced up next and happily took the book from her hands. "I'll go next." He announced cheerfully, quickly skimming the book. "Oh, I like this one." He announced almost immediately, holding the book open towards Lelouch, pointing excitedly at the race detailed on the pages.

"Fallen?" The dark haired teen mumbled, mulling over the choice in his head. It didn't really seem fitting to Gino's personality, but it wasn't like he knew the blonde very well. "That's an interesting choice from you, Gino." He admitted easily.

The Fallen were essentially a race comprised of humans who had fallen to the dark manipulations of a demon lord, with only their strongest warrior keeping her mind free from his control. That warrior had eventually gone on to become the demon lord's mistress... and then killed him in his sleep, because he had been too confident in his control over them. This left the Fallen free of the great demon's control, and they were able to meld themselves back into regular society without much issue. Of course, they were not universally trusted, but more often than not racial bias didn't affect them too heavily.

"Heh." Gino snickered lightly, moving towards his class of choice. Flipping rapidly through the pages, he came across a picture that drew his attention fairly quickly. "Ooooh!" His face lit up in a bright grin as he saw the picture of a man wielding a twin-headed polearm, one that looked almost exactly like his Knightmare's weapon of choice. "Monk. I'm a Fallen Monk." Gino announced with a sense of finality. "Anya, you go next." The knight offered the book in the pinkette's direction, which resulted in a dull blink as the girl noticed she was being spoken to.

Tilting her head, seemingly trying to remember what was going on, the girl nodded to herself after a moment of thought. "Ah. Right." She stated dully, moving to take the book from Gino. Once it was in her hands, the girl blinked again, this time as she looked at the book.

For some reason, she could tell something was strange about this book. But, Anya being Anya, she didn't care. As such, rather than informing anyone, the girl just flipped the book open and began scanning through the races mechanically. Each page had around five seconds or less dedicated to it before the girl simply flipped to another, leaving many of them wondering if she would actually find something she liked.

This went on for around five minutes straight before the girl stopped on a single page, looking over it intently. Due to the way she was holding the book, no one else could see what held her interest. After a few seconds, she nodded slightly. "I want this one." The girl mumbled to herself, before turning further on into the book without explaining what she had chosen in the slightest.

Another several minutes passed in silence, as no one felt comfortable talking while Anya was reading, as though it may disrupt her concentration and end up making her take longer.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a soft little noise. "Oh." Anya's voice cut the silence like a knife. "Engineers... they make robots." Of course they weren't actually called robots, and their construction was a mixture of arcana and machinery which earned the class the official name of "Arcane Engineer", which was typically abbreviated to Engineer.

None of that mattered, though, because they were robots.

"So... an Engineer." Lelouch cut in, lest the girl change her decision. "And what race did you pick?" Rather than saying anything, the girl simply flipped back to the page and showed it to the vice president, who's expression took on an incredulous tilt. "... you can't be serious." He mumbled, leveling a deadpan look towards the girl.

It was returned with the same dull look that was always on her face. "I am." She replied.

"Well." Lelouch muttered to himself, rolling his eyes. "I expected someone to do something like this. Why not you?" He chuckled. "You've managed to choose a race that does absolutely nothing for your chosen class."

Unwilling to be left out of the loop, Milly cut in. "And just what did she pick, Lelouch?"

"Fae. She chose to be a fairy." The teen replied dully, shaking his head in exasperation. "A Fae Engineer. That class clashes so horribly thematically with the race that I didn't expect anyone to get the idea in their head mix them, but lo and behold." He shrugged. In truth, there was no innate disadvantage Fae had as Engineers... it's just that the race provided literally no benefit to that specific class. Some general traits were useful, but those would have been useful no matter what class she chose.

Fae were nature spirits that had taken on bodies of flesh and blood as opposed to simply living as what essentially amounted to being a ghost. Spirits of that sort were born in a forest and roamed the woods until something caught their interest, which could sometimes take decades or centuries. These spirits lived in a sort of abstract, dream-like state and as such did not do much in the way of communication. Fae were born from those spirits when something made them wish to roam further, to do more, to see something new, to follow whatever had caught their interest. In those cases, the spirit would form into a Fae.

It just was not a race that screamed "Engineer", to be frank.

Regardless of the criticism her choices drew, Anya didn't so much as flinch under the scrutiny. She chose what she wanted to do. With that done, she walked over and pressed the book into Shirley's hands, which drew a fairly uncomfortable smile from the redhead as the complete void of emotion in Anya's eyes was made apparent to her again.

"Thanks." She said to the girl, struggling to keep her smile genuine. Anya always made her so... antsy. Shirley had a lot of trouble looking her in the eye, because it gave her chills. Much like everyone else had, she began flipping through the book curiously. "Oh wow, the pictures are really detailed." She said, smiling as she inspected the images of each race. They weren't just detailed, they were rather pretty as well. And there were so many of them! Sure, some were rather small to fit on the somewhat limited page space, but they weren't hard to make out. Just from the pictures alone it was easy to get a feel for each and every one of the races available, and they still had text to explain finer points about them.

Eventually she stumbled upon the page detailing Wood Elves, and the girl's eyes lit up. They were so pretty. Not just the people, but the pictures detailing their culture showed buildings, weapons and armor, statues, wooden carvings... and all of it was just so beautiful. Buildings that incorporated trees, hanging gardens, all kinds of interesting things. They had a very pleasing aesthetic.

"I think I want to be a Wood Elf." Shirley announced happily. "Oh, uh." She had no idea whatsoever what class she should choose. Elves could be just about anything and excel at it.

"Well." Rivalz chimed in, looking at the others. "We literally have no healer." He noted, glancing around at the assembled group with a smirk.

Lelouch nodded. "You're right. We have yourself as a Warrior, Gino as a Monk, and Rolo as a Rogue." For obvious reasons, none of them would be the healer. Monks did have some healing skills, but Gino was clearly going to focus more on a fighter build than a healer. "Nina is a Hunter, and Anya is an Engineer; both of them are ranged classes with no healing ability."

"Healing is important, right?" Shirley asked, having no real idea about game mechanics. "I mean I guess the healer is what keeps everyone alive, right?"

Rivalz nodded fervently. "Yeah, it's one of the most important roles in these games; if we don't have a healer, we're gonna have a tough time accomplishing much." It was hard to fight when you were dead, after all. Healers had a pretty big hand in keeping you from being dead.

The orangette smiled. "Then I'll be a healer. Er... which class does that?" The smile turned sheepish as she turned to Lelouch for assistance, holding the book out to him demurely.

A warm smile slipped onto the teen's face as he accepted the book. "I think I have one you'll enjoy." He chuckled at the excited look that crossed her face. "A Priest, a long ranged caster. They focus primarily on healing and buffing allies. Buffs are basically bonuses to your stats." He explained, seeing the confusion beginning to settle as he brought up buffing. Shirley had pretty much no idea how these things worked.

"So... you think this will be good?" She asked, leaning forward to look over the class page. "Oh, that's pretty!" The girl exclaimed, looking at the design of one of the Priest staves.

"Yeah, this will be a good fit. We needed a healer and you chose a good race for it." Wood Elves had a large boost to healing, both themselves and allies, when in a forest. It wasn't as though one would always be in a forest, of course, but it wasn't exactly an uncommon landscape. On top of that, they had bonuses to intelligence which would benefit the healing output of Shirley's spells.

Nodding, the bubbly girl accepted a card from Lelouch and began to jot down her choice. "Wood Elf Priest for me, then." She announced, quite pleased with herself, as she held the book up. "Who's next?" It was down to Suzaku and Milly now.

Seeing that, the blonde girl turned to the Japanese Knight and held a hand out. "Rock paper scissors shoot!" Milly announced, quickly going through the motions of the game and landing on scissors.

Confused, Suzaku held up one hand. "Wait, what?" Without thinking much on it his hand had fallen into the traditional "paper" position, which was quickly cut by Milly's scissors.

"I win!" The girl shouted, prancing away from the befuddled Knight who was staring down at his hand incredulously. "Pass me the book, Shirley!"

Doing so with a sigh, the redhead commented on her actions a second before. "You could have just said you wanted to go next. Suzaku has been patiently waiting for everyone." It's not like he would have minded waiting for just one more person.

Milly's response was to, predictably, ignore the other girl's concerns. "So!" She exclaimed, flipping pages with an ease that suggested familiarity. "I'm gonna be a..." Pages continued to flip rapidly, as though the girl was waiting for a specific page and had yet to see it flip by. "Here it is, I'm going to be a High Elf Spellsword."

Lelouch quirked an eyebrow. "And didn't you say you hadn't had a chance to read the book?" He asked skeptically. That was a rather fast selection for someone who had never even opened the damn book before.

"I glanced at it." The blonde admitted shamelessly, prancing towards Suzaku and practically shoving the book into his arms. "C'mon, your turn Suzaku! We're almost through the first step!" This was getting exciting!

The brunette flushed somewhat at the rather forceful way the girl had passed the book to him, but opened the book nonetheless. "So... hm." The boy mumbled as he leafed through the pages. "Uhm, give me a few minutes." Suzaku asked sheepishly, looking over the pages himself. "I've got a vague idea what I want, I guess..."

Shrugging, Lelouch spoke up. "If you need help, just ask." It'd be out of character if he didn't at least offer to assist the boy, though he was happy Suzaku seemed just as adverse to asking for that aid in the first place.

"Oh, no, no I'll be fine. Thanks, though." Suzaku replied with a small smile, and the others could only assume it was his own stubborn streak keeping him from accepting help on this.

Of course, the two boys knew one another better. Their friendship now was nothing more than a lie built to trap C.C., with Lelouch acting as bait.

After a few minutes of looking through the book, Suzaku finally seemed to find something that caught his eye. "Ah, that looks good." He noted to himself, glancing further down the page, likely at the recommended classes for his race. After a moment, he quickly flipped through several pages until he reached another one. "Yeah, this is good." He nodded, closing the book. "I'll be an Ascended Paladin."

Lelouch had to hold in a derisive snort, but he managed to cover it with feigned amusement. "A Paladin, hm? Of course our resident White Knight went for that." He joked.

Suzaku allowed himself a small grin. "Heh, yeah... It's just, they looked like they would have a good mix of fighting power and healing." In a way, he wanted to try and lighten the load that had been placed on Shirley as the group's only healer. One person taking care of a whole group without help seemed kind of straining, but at the same time he did still want to be a fighting class.

Paladins were pretty much up in the middle of the fray, so he would almost always be close enough to heal up an ally melee fighter that needed it. It would help a bit, and not to mention a Paladin was a good tank as well, so they could limit damage done to their allies. And, also, he just liked the aesthetic of a champion of light and good.

Nodding lightly, Lelouch conceded the point. "You're right, that is actually fairly helpful." It was a fair enough reason, but he was fairly certain the teen had done it just for the sake of being a good and virtuous knight for "good". "But what makes you think I won't pick a healer?" He continued jokingly.

A knowing glance was cast his way. "I know you well enough to know that you're going to be some kind of magic class, Lelouch." Suzaku couldn't see Lelouch just sitting back and keeping his allies alive with heals, he'd be more focused on blowing them to bits with some kind of spell.

"Got me there." Lelouch admitted shamelessly. "I've already got my class and race in mind, and you're not wrong." To be fair, it wasn't as though anyone in the room really expected him to pick a healing class.

"Oh?" Rivalz cut into the conversation with a grin. "What's your pick then bud? I'm dyin' to know." Lelouch was something of an oddball sometimes, so he was excited to know what choices he'd made for this. It was probably a magic class of some sort... but that really didn't narrow it down much at all. There were so many classes in this game that it was ridiculous.

Milly raised her hand up with a grin. "I bet I know." She chuckled at the quirked eyebrow this drew from the dark haired teen. "You're going to be a Dark Elf Necromancer, aren't you?" The girl stuck her tongue out at the blinks that drew from the council, and the sigh from Lelouch especially amused her.

"... you were close, yes." He admitted, shocking the girl slightly that she wasn't entirely correct. "I did choose Necromancer, however I went with Snow Elf instead."

"Snow Elf?" The girl questioned oddly. "Why in the world would you pick that race?" She asked curiously, thrown for a loop by the decision. Snow Elves were quite frail in general constitution, with the exception of a very high tolerance to cold which was made obvious by their various living places in the high peaks, where temperatures rarely went above freezing. They had a significant weakness to fire and flame spells that was traded for a powerful resistance to ice based magic and cold in general, and their bodies were also capable of handling the thinner air of high altitudes without much strain. As each race had quite a few passive abilities, it wasn't impossible that she had missed one in her rather brief scan of the book's races that would catch Lelouch's fancy... but she really had expected him to go for Dark Elves, because he was just like that.

The dark haired teen smiled at her, briefly closing his eyes losing himself in memory. A content sigh slipped from his lips as he opened them again, taking on the look of someone who had just relived a fond moment in their lives. "I like snow." Lelouch answered cheerfully.

Everyone but Anya and Rolo found themselves practically twitching in annoyance at the rather noncommittal answer. They had clearly expected more of a story to explain the rather random choice.

"So we've all chosen our race and class, correct?" Lelouch, who's reasoning would go unexplained to the council for quite some time, carried on without any issue. Seeing the collective affirmative from everyone, the boy grinned widely. "Then next we roll for stats."

"Stats?" Shirley asked. "You used the term before, and I think I sort of get it, but what exactly do they do?" She blushed under the scrutiny her question drew. "I-I-I've never played one of these before, don't look at me like that..." The girl pouted.

Lelouch chuckled. "It's fine, I was just about to go over it. There are four stats in this game; Health, Dexterity, Strength, and Intelligence." He held up one finger for each of the stats, before moving on to explain them one by one. "Health is, essentially, the amount of damage your character can take before being knocked out or killed. If your health reaches zero, you are knocked unconscious and need to be revived by an ally. If you are attacked at zero health and brought down to a negative that is equal to your maximum health, your character is killed and you're out of the game." Seeing the general consensus of understanding, Lelouch lowered one finger before ticking off the next with his other hand. "Secondly, we have Dexterity. Dexterity is going to be primarily for the more fragile classes such as Hunter and Rogue, and Engineer to some degree. It will raise your ranged and melee attack damage, increase your movement speed and critical strike chance, and increase your ability to dodge and prevent damage in the first place."

"So, do we just pick one stat and focus on it? Cuz' I assume Strength and Intelligence give damage too, so you could really just put all your points into HP and main stat." Gino chimed in curiously, wondering what benefit there was to even having the other stats as a class that didn't make use of them. He blinked, before elaborating on a term for Shirley's benefit. "HP means Hit Points, and it's basically another name for Health." He directed a small smile to the girl, who returned it gratefully.

Nodding at the question, Lelouch explained. "Well, it's actually fairly simple. You'll probably find yourself split between three stats as opposed to two, more often than not. HP, your primary stat, and a secondary stat that you choose based on personal preference." Saying this, he came up with a brief example. "For instance, Milly's class is Spellsword. They use magic and a blade in conjunction with one another. As such, she has the option to choose a Strength and Intelligence build that focuses solely on heavy hitting power, probably using a large, two-handed blade. More strength means more damage on a melee strike, and adding extra damage on the physical end augments the magical power more. Alternatively," he held up his hands as if to show a scale, weighing the Strength build against his other hand, "a Dexterity and Intelligence build is available that will provide much higher survive-ability due to your exceptional ability to avoid damage, as well as giving you a more stealth-capable character. And, of course..."

He shrugged, dropping the scales. "You could always just put everything into Intelligence and rely on your base physical attributes being higher than that of other casters, which will allow you to have significantly more magic damage at the expense of being only slightly more capable in a close range fight than a typical caster." Seeing understanding among the crowd, he finished his example. "So you will almost always level your main attribute, but pouring all of your points into it is not necessary."

Rival raised his hand, as though they were in class and he was asking the teacher to clarify. "But Milly is a hybrid type class anyway." He noted, explaining the concept briefly. "Basically, her class is built to mix physical and magical; it's really what the whole thing is about." Everyone seemed to get the concept, a few scattered nods arriving. "But wouldn't that make the example kind of biased towards hybrid classes?"

"You've got a valid point." Lelouch conceded. "I'll try another example, then, using a physical class. Warrior, specifically." This got a nod from Rivalz, as the example would be particularly valuable to him since he was the one asking the question. "While it will be a bit more generalized due to the class itself, there are still options. For instance, the rather obvious being a Dexterity and Strength build that provides an excellent mix of damage output and defenses." This being the build Rivalz was most likely to use, Lelouch explained it a bit further. "Essentially, dividing points between HP, Dexterity, and Strength provides you a good damage output as both Dexterity and Strength provide physical damage improvement, with Dexterity also boosting your ability to avoid damage in general. As a Warrior, you are already good at shrugging off damage, but it only gets better if enemies have a hard time hitting you at all."

"So Intelligence isn't worth it as a warrior at all, then, is it?" Rivalz asked. "I'm not trying to nitpick, just curious." He quickly defended, not wanting people to think he was trying to be an ass about it.

Lelouch shrugged. "It's a fair question. Intelligence isn't as useful in a traditional Warrior build, however there are reasons to put points into it. Basically it increases your proficiency with magical weaponry, such as enchanted swords and whatnot. If you wanted to try a Magic Warrior build then you would put points into Intelligence and Strength, but I'll admit that this is a niche decision one would need to pretty much build around from the ground up." It could work, and it would probably work quite well once it got off the ground, but it did require one to know exactly what they were getting into beforehand as magical weaponry was rare enough that you wouldn't often find it.

So building an entire class build around it seemed fairly silly, but again it _could_ work and it _wasn't_ impossible to do. "So the three major options do exist, with two mixed builds and a pair of focused builds, because Warriors could just as easily choose stats for Dexterity as opposed to Strength and see success." So if one discounted the rather convoluted Magic Warrior build, there were still three viable options to choose from for a standard Warrior.

Rivalz settled back down. "Alright, makes sense to me. Continue." He ceded the floor back to Lelouch with a stage bow.

Rolling his eyes, the teen continued his original explanation. "Right. So we covered Dexterity and Health, let's move to Intelligence next." He tapped his temple. "Basically this is going to determine your aptitude with anything magical. The most easily outline benefits are a direct increase to the effectiveness of any spell, be it a healing or damaging spell, as well as an increased mana pool to use abilities from. Every class has Mana, but not all of them use it for their abilities."

"Why would they have it, then?" Shirley asked curiously. What good was it if they wouldn't use it?

A small smirk came to Lelouch's lips. "I figured someone would ask that." He chuckled at the petulant look that crossed the girl's face. "While some classes have no abilities that use their mana, Enchanted and Magical weaponry do use mana in order to function. So, say you have a sword that is enchanted so it will catch fire on command; that takes your mana, because something needs to fuel that enchantment." After letting that sink in, he made one amendment to the statement. "There are, however, some exceptions. Some weapons are created with enchantments that take mana from the world around them, or they steal it from enemies they strike, or they have large amounts of mana stored in them and just need to be charged every so often, and so on."

"So... if Rivalz has a sword that catches on fire, his mana gets used to do it. So that's why the Magic Warrior thing you mentioned can work? Since they can use their enchanted weapons longer?" The girl asked, seemingly grasping the concept.

Lelouch nodded. "That and the fact that Intelligence just makes Enchanted weapons stronger in general, yes." Seeing her nod, he continued with the explanation. "Each stat does several different things, but that is somewhat different based on your class. But every stat does have it's uses on your class, even if you're not putting points into it." Holding up a single finger, he moved on to the final stat. "So, last of all is Strength. It's fairly simple; increased damage, carrying weight, and so on. Strength gives a higher bonus to damage than Dexterity, a much higher bonus actually. However, it provides no real defensive increase; strong flesh is still flesh, and it still bleeds the same as any other. However, high Strength means heavier armor is more viable since you can move freely. So Strength doesn't directly influence your resistance to damage, but it allows you to use better armor that _will_ do that."

"... y'know, this system seems kinda simple." Gino pointed out, somewhat surprised. "I mean yeah you're using a lot of big words and detailed explanations, but it kind of comes down to some simple key stuff." He was under the impression that these games tended to have very complex rules. Maybe that would come later, but for now this seemed pretty easy to grasp. Even those who were new to the concept entirely could figure it out without much fuss. "Int for magic and magic related things, dex for speed, dodging, and damage, and strength for smashing stuff, carrying stuff, and putting on heavy armor without being a turtle. HP for not dying. Put points wherever you want, you get something out of everything. That the gist of it?" Gino summarized.

Shrugging, the teen who had gone through a rather lengthy explanation process nodded. "Yes, essentially." It was a rather simple system, but that was a benefit in this case as they had several people who had no idea what this kind of game even was before today. "That's a rather simplified and half-assed explanation of it, but you're not wrong."

"Cool! So lets roll, then." The blond giggled at his little pun. "Heh. Roll." Gino blinked as he caught a die that had been tossed at his head. The die itself was a six-sider that had fancy, bold print for all of the numbers as opposed to dots. It was a solid black with gold ink, and each face had a silvery white outline to it that gathered at the corners to form a sort of point. "Oh. Neat looking dice. So we just roll the one?"

Lelouch nodded. "Roll it once, write down your score. Roll it again, write down the score. Repeat this until you have four scores, and then double each score. After that, pass on the die and allocate your points. Oh, and for those of us with horrible luck, don't worry too much. If your score is two or under you take a five in that score." Meaning that one could not possibly roll beneath a five in any given stat, which was slightly less than half of the maximum. "If you roll two fives, you're allowed to add two to one of them to bring it up to seven. Roll three fives, and you can add three to one and two to another so you get an eight and a seven. And if you manage to somehow have the worst luck in the world and roll all fives," He snickered at the thought of that, "you can add four to one, three to another, and two to the last one, leaving you with a score of nine, eight, seven, and five."

Nine, eight, seven, five. That was not a good stat pool, but it was workable. Your highest priority would be a nine, which was a fairly average score. Your secondary focus is an eight, with the seven and five pooling into the tertiary choice and the least used stat respectively. Considering the maximum score was twelve across the board, it was a fair enough score to at least play the game.

"Ah. Well here's to hoping I don't need to do that." Gino muttered, rolling his die once. A wide grin broke out across his lips as he rolled exactly what he'd been hoping for. "Neat. Got a six on my first go." So that was one maxed starting stat. Nice way to start out the game. Another roll pulled up a five, which was also great. He had a twelve and a ten ready to go from the start. The third roll wasn't as spectacular, as he managed to get a three. So twelve, six, and ten. "Well, last roll. Let's see what we get." Letting the final roll go, he nodded contentedly as it was another ten. A very solid score across the board, providing him with a maxed out starting stat, two that were just below it, and a third that was not as bad as it could have been.

Writing the scores down, Gino began pondering to himself on how to allocate them. As the blonde thought on his decisions, the die was passed to Rivalz.

* * *

Roughly ten minutes later, everyone but Lelouch had made their rolls and those who had yet to decided on where to allocate their points were relying on the dark haired teen for advice.

Currently, Shirley was looking over her scorecard with an intent expression as Lelouch stood to her side and inspected her stat rolls. "Well, the obvious choice is to put the ten into your Intelligence stat for better healing. One Eight is probably going to be to your health, so that leaves you with another eight and a six to put somewhere. It's basically down to whether you want to go for Strength or Dexterity as a secondary." Dexterity for a Priest was going to primarily increase their ability to get in and out of battle with ease, while Strength was going to mainly be for the sake of getting to heavy armor so you could wade deeper into the fight without as much issue. Honestly, he saw Shirley as more along the lines of the first as picturing the bubbly girl wearing heavy armor was such a departure from reality that it made him snicker.

"Why are you laughing? This is a hard choice Lulu." The girl pouted, looking over the remaining numbers as if they held the secrets of life.

"... honestly? I thought of you wearing a giant suit of armor and carrying a staff into battle." Lelouch admitted shamelessly, still highly amused by the idea. "Just for that I want to recommend you stat for Dexterity so I don't end up laughing to death in the middle of the game."

The girl gave him a dry look, before shaking her head with a sigh. "I don't really think I want heavy armor either. So I'll put the other eight into Dexterity and the six into Strength."

"That works well enough." Lelouch chuckled. "So, then. Anyone else need any advice?" He was actually having a pretty good time with this despite his earlier misgivings. It was fun to set the whole thing up. He wasn't even really sure if the game was going to be more entertaining than creating a character, but if it was even half as amusing then he would call it a worthwhile waste of his time.

Someone tugged lightly on his sleeve, drawing Lelouch's attention to the expressionless visage of Anya Alstreim. "... does this work?" She asked, showing the card she had written her scores on and the stats they were allocated to.

Engineers were kind of tricky to stat, as they benefited rather heavily from any stat. Intelligence increased their construct's abilities and damage, as they were after all magic infused constructs, while also boosting the mana pool they used to activate their special weaponry which worked similarly to Enchanted items. On the other hand, the Engineer was proficient with firearms and Dexterity supported that quite well, a Dexterity built Engineer could function very well as a primary ranged DPS class by using their raw damage from the firearm along with their other gadgets and tricks to avoid damage. And finally, Engineers got a benefit from Strength as that increased their carrying weight for one, which allowed them to hold more of their weapons, as well as benefiting them once they began to construct their power armors.

Power armors being, essentially, a construct that functioned as a heavy suit of armor. An Engineer had to have a rather high Strength stat in order to use the larger, more powerful power armor. An Intelligence or Dexterity focused build would have access only to the much more limited light armors. The larger armors tended to be incredibly strong, but they required a lot of Strength to move around.

Inspecting the paper, Lelouch was unsurprised to see Anya had gone for a heavy Strength build. Extremely heavy, as that was where she had allocated her twelve. Dexterity was the lowest of her stats, but an eight wasn't awful at all. And the pair of tens were in Health and Intelligence. So she was clearly going to be focusing on the power armor and other constructs. "Yes, that works." He said, explaining a bit further. "An Engineer's power armor scales off of Strength, which allows them to actually move the thing, and Intelligence that improves the functions of the armor. So what you have is fine."

The girl nodded lackadaisically, before wandering back over to her little character sheet and writing the choices down.

Lelouch sighed. Good grief was that girl peculiar. "Anyone else?"

"Should I put my other twelve into Strength or Health, big brother?" Rolo asked, trying to allocate his last stats. He'd rolled a pair of twelves and had immediately put one into Dexterity, with his eight being put into Intelligence. The remaining two stats were his second twelve and a ten, and he was trying to decide whether it was worth losing two strength to get two health or vice-versa.

Thinking on it briefly, Lelouch replied. "Based on your class, I would say health. A Rogue is probably going to run into more situations where they would want a bit more health than those that require more strength." With a Dexterity stat of twelve, his damage output would already be significant. But so would his evasiveness, and Lelouch's philosophy on that matter was quite simple; just because you would probably dodge a hit doesn't mean they will never hit you, and the one strike that gets through should never be the one that kills you. With high Health and Dexterity, it put Rolo at a very good spot.

"Okay!" Rolo replied happily, quickly jotting the choices down on his own sheet.

Glancing around the assorted council members, Lelouch spotted Nina staring over the scores she'd rolled intently. Curious, he walked over closer to the girl and looked over her shoulder, managing to do so without alerting her. Her rolls were quite solid, the dark haired teen noted. She'd managed three tens and an eight, so her choice should have been fairly easy as all she really needed to do was pick which stat she didn't want as much. Hunters were sort of in the same boat as Warriors, as they were fairly geared towards one or two stat builds and other ones were somewhat niche. A Dexterity and Intelligence hunter would be a good build if the Hunter wanted to use magical weapons, and a Strength and Dexterity build was also viable if one wanted to make use of the few close ranged skills a Hunter had for combat purposes.

Their close ranged skills were somewhat limited, usually focused mainly on disorienting and escaping from the close range in the first place, but some of them were quite powerful with enough Strength. Enough so to serve as finishers, or to severely punish anyone who got too close. As a matter of fact, Nina's race would be even better for that as they had access to a beast form, which would have it's own unique skills that were probably close range focused. So the idea of a Strength and Dexterity build would probably work out rather well for her, while a pure Dexterity build would also have it's merits.

Blinking as he realized the girl had began writing, he noticed that she seemed to have a similar idea to him as she had placed the tens in Health, Dexterity, and Strength while leaving Intelligence at eight.

"Huh, so I was right." Lelouch mumbled lightly, startling the bespectacled girl. "Oh, sorry Nina. I was curious as to what choices you made so I came over, but I didn't really announce my arrival." He wasn't really all that sorry. It was kind of fun to sneak up on Nina because of the reactions she had.

Heart racing, the green haired girl frowned towards him. "... you s-should consider d-doing that next time." She murmured, gathering her wits. She was far too easily startled, but it wasn't something she could really help. It was just how she was.

Laughing lightly, the dark haired teen agreed. "Alright, alright, I'll try to keep from scaring you. Even if it is fun." Immensely fun. More so than it really should have been.

"You e-enjoy it t-too, then?" Nina asked with a pout. "As if I d-didn't get enough of M-Milly trying to startle me." She didn't really need to try too hard, honestly. Nina would admit that she was a bit too jumpy, but again it just wasn't something she could really do much about.

"Only slightly. It's more for nostalgia than anything." He admitted easily. "It's been a year since I've gotten to do it, after all." Lelouch teased with a light-hearted smile.

Nina sighed, a small flush coming to her cheeks. "F-fine. J-just please don't keep d-doing it on purpose." She was going to have enough trouble trying to keep Milly from groping her for the next few days, let alone having to deal with Lelouch getting his jollies by scaring her senseless every five minutes.

"Hey, Lelooooooouch!" Speaking of the devil, there was Milly now. "I've gotta ask you something." The girl pranced up to the dark haired teen and cheerfully presented her stat distribution to him, throwing one arm over his shoulder and holding the card in front of them. "What'cha think?" She asked, allowing him to inspect the card.

Lelouch nodded slightly, reading it over. "So you're going for a quicker build, then?" He asked, noting the rather high Dexterity stat. Milly had chosen to put the twelve she had rolled into Intelligence, but her ten was in Dexterity. Strength was a five, with her Health being eight.

"Yep!" She replied, slicing and stabbing with an imaginary sword as she pushed off of him. "Stabby stabby, shooty shooty." She began making "pew pew" noises as she swung the imaginary blade about, slicing and shooting at various invisible figures.

"... right. You do that." She was so damn weird sometimes, Lelouch noted with a roll of his eyes. "So we've all decided our stats, right?" He asked, looking over the group. A collective chorus of "yes" or words and actions that could be taken as such was the reply. "Good, then I'm going to roll mine now." That said, the tossed the die in the air and caught it with a grin. "Let's see how I do, shall we?"

The rest of the council, sans the ever distracted figure of Anya, watched raptly as the teen made his first roll. Nonchalantly rolling his first die, the teen's grin widened at his first roll. Twelve points for him. A second roll also turned up a six, making him the third person to roll two maxed stats, with Rivalz and Rolo both having rolled a pair of sixes. Without the smirk leaving his face for even a moment, the teen collected the die once more and made another roll.

"I'm calling bullshit." Gino chimed in petulantly, having only rolled a single maxed stat compared to Lelouch's current score of three.

Shrugging at the blonde, Lelouch grabbed the die and rolled it again... landing on yet another six. "Huh. That's odd. My luck isn't usually this good." He noted.

"Oh come on!" The blonde Knight shouted in frustration, waving his hands in front of himself frantically. "Are we all seeing this shit? I'm so not playing poker with this guy." Gino was fairly certain he was cheating, but the sleight of hand skills required to do that didn't seem like something a teenager in a prestigous academy would possess. So more likely than not, he just had the Devil's own luck.

Rather than blaming luck, Lelouch managed to figure out where the high score was coming from rather easily. 'Rolo seems to be having fun.' He thought to himself dryly. He was perhaps the only one in the room who had the perceptive ability to notice that the clock had skipped forward three times, meaning that only one of those twelves was earned fairly. It had been the same as when Rolo had rolled his own die, though the boy had been much more concervative when cheating for his own sake.

But, well, Lelouch wasn't going to say anything to him about it. It wasn't as though he could bring it up in the first place since no one was supposed to know what Rolo could do except for Suzaku, and informing Suzaku would do nothing but blow his cover. And, moreover, he just wasn't really one to play fair in the first place if the option for a better alternative presented itself, as Rolo had done quite handily.

"Wow, Lulu. I guess it doesn't really matter where you put your stats, does it?" Shirley teased good naturedly with a smile, sidling up to the dark haired teen and elbowing him lightly. "Maybe all that gambling you and Rivalz do did come in handy if your luck is this good." The blue haired treasurer had also rolled rather well.

Chuckling lightheartedly, the boy replied. "See, some good came of it. Perhaps now you'll stop harassing us when we go out?" He smirked at the deadpan look this received. "Didn't think so. It was worth asking, though."

"Man, this is silly." Rivalz snickered, looking over towards the final die that had been left. "What are the chances he swapped out the die with a loaded one?" Knowing Lelouch, that wasn't so farfetched. While Gino didn't expect sleight of hand tricks from Lelouch, Rivalz was a bit more well informed on the fact that his buddy was a particularly ruthless gambler who oftentimes bent or broke rules for his own benefit.

"Not too high considering this is a fairly recognizable die." Milly noted, poking the rather fancy cube, having calmed down from her earlier outburst. "See, look at how much detail went into the numbering. It's actually really weird." Why would anyone spend so much time and effort prettying up a die that's only use was for stats? That just seemed ridiculous.

The treasurer shrugged. "Yeah, fair enough." Come to think of it, this game was actually extremely high spec. The pictures in the book and even the design of the book itself were positively top-notch, and the die was extremely fancy for a fairly insignificant part of the game. Where in the world did she find this? "Hey, Prez, where exactly did ya' find this thing anyway?" He went ahead and asked the question.

Milly straightened up from her inspection of the die, smirking. "I found it in a closet in my Grandfather's study." She really did not know why he had such a thing lying around, but he'd been happy to let her take it for a bit to play around. As a matter of fact, he'd actually said it was a memento from an old friend that was no longer with them before he'd sighed and lost himself in reminiscence, recommending she make certain that Lelouch take some time off from his rather hectic work ethic and make time to enjoy himself.

That kind of made her uncomfortable, as she got the unsaid message that this game had once belonged to Lady Marianne. For whatever reason, that woman had something like this and it had found it's way into her Grandfather's hands. Why in the world a renowned soldier and wife of the Emperor would have such a random item, she would never know. But it was currently more important that they put it to good use and enjoy themselves, so she left her explanation rather simple.

"Really, now?" Lelouch mumbled oddly, quirking a brow at that. "Why in the world would the Headmaster have something like this?" Reuben was a party animal, not a board game enthusiast or collector. This probably found it's way to his hands at random.

This question drew a shrug from the granddaughter of the man in question. "Heck if I know." She lied, able to do so well enough to fool Lelouch for the simple fact that she was still baffled as to why the person her Grandfather had _received_ it from would ever own such a thing. "But it's ours to mess with for the moment, so carry on with the character creation."

Everyone blinked, realizing that there was more to do. The obvious exceptions to this were Lelouch, as he was already aware of this, Anya who was self explanatory, and Milly who had brought the topic forth.

"... How much of this book did you read, again?" The dark haired teen groused not for the first time, running a hand through his hair. "Next up is starting inventory; you roll for starting gold and then select inventory based on your money. Make note, your carrying weight is important here. The character sheet explains the formula for it." Because he was not going to explain each and every little thing to them when there was a piece of paper with the explanation written on it. "The gold die is a D-twenty, so keep it in mind." He was also not going to supervise this process too heavily, because everyone was going to buy a lot of items. And if he was right, there were going to be _numerous_ pointless purchases of random things that in no way provided any real benefit. That was just how these things went, he thought to himself as he fished the twenty sided die out of the dice-box located within the suitcase. Not particularly wanting to move much, he just tossed the die towards the group with a smirk and watched as Suzaku scrambled to catch it out of the air, barely succeeding.

The funniest part of that was that Gino had been poised to catch the die without even moving, but he'd been outside of Suzaku's field of view at the time as the Japanese teen had been petting Arthur since the tomcat had calmed down from his earlier outburst. "Good catch, Suzaku." His praise would seem genuine to anyone who looked, but that was just because Lelouch was a man capable of dawning many masks.

Noticing that Gino had been standing where the die was headed, Suzaku flushed sheepishly at the spectacle he had made. "I guess I'll roll first?" He joked, chuckling uncomfortably.

"Go ahead." Gino chimed in, tossing an arm over the smaller boy's shoulder. "You're bound to get a better score than last time." Suzaku's rolls had been the worst of the group, coming quite close to rolling nothing but the bare minimum of stats. If he hadn't managed a six on his final die roll, he would have managed the exact opposite of Lelouch's stat total.

"You say that, Gino, but I just don't know..." Suzaku laughed a bit, internally cringing at how awful his rolls had been. Luck had never been his strong suit, and most of his had probably been used up when he'd survived in Shinjuku. But regardless, he rolled the die and smiled at the result. Eighteen out of twenty, that was a solid roll indeed.

Passing the die to Gino, Suzaku looked towards Lelouch. "So now what?" He asked, wondering where to go from there. The book probably contained items for them to choose.

"Well, first up you choose two perks." Lelouch handed the brunette the book, which he had turned to the perk page. "These will probably influence your choice in equipment so pick them first, then grab your chosen items."

"Perks?" Suzaku asked, looking them over. "Oh, so we just pick two of these?"

"Fallen and Ascended actually get to choose three." Lelouch amended. "It's one of their racial traits." They were altered via the power of Demons and Angels respectively, which gave a few unique perks... but the main draw to either of those races was the third perk slot, usually. Well, outside of thematic preference. "I would honestly recommend you use at least one of them to curb your stat rolls. There's one that will give you a rather large HP benefit if you're wearing heavy armor, and since you're a Strength and Intelligence character that could do you some good." He pointed to the perk in question, Body of Iron.

Nodding, the Knight took the other teen's advice. "Alright, I'll grab that one for sure then." Maybe he should also offset his low dexterity with that Spry Fortress perk that increased movement speed in heavy armor? But then, there were still other options... oh, this one gave benefits to dual wielding. Ambidextrous, remove the penalty for using two one handed weapons. That sounded nice.

As Suzaku continued to choose his perks, Lelouch couldn't help but sigh as he looked over the assembled group. It was nice to see everyone having fun with something as inconsequential as a board game, but there were still other things that needed to be addressed in the near future. The incident in the Chinese Federation hadn't been fun, and he still had much to do. Kallen was in enemy hands, but for the moment there was nothing to do about it. He would save her, but right now it simply wasn't possible. On top of that, he needed to neutralize the Geass Order. An organization of that strength simply could not be allowed to continue existing against him.

"Oi, Lelouch. It's your turn to roll for starting money." Milly interrupted the dark haired teen's thoughts, whacking him over the head with a rolled up piece of paper. "Snap out of your daydreams."

Taking the die from her, Lelouch sent a dull look towards the blonde. "You didn't have to hit me. Furthermore, is that paper something important? Because it had better not be." Milly had a habit of using any paper she found for whatever purpose she came up with; origami, doodling, and so on. This meant that Lelouch had often found documents that were of great importance in less than stellar condition. Ignoring the blonde's assurances that the paper was nothing special, as he could clearly see the look on her face that told him otherwise, Lelouch sighed and rolled the die.

"Again!?" Gino griped, throwing his hands up in the air exasperatedly. "How do you keep doing this!?" A friggin' twenty? This guy was ridiculous. Gino was never going to challenge him to any sort of luck based game in his life, because it was becoming quite apparent that Lelouch was Lady Luck's favorite. At this point it was becoming questionable whether or not Lelouch _could_ roll anything less than the maximum.

Lelouch shrugged in response. "No clue." And again, the clock had skipped. Rolo seemed to be having fun. At this point he was honestly almost considering to tell him to stop, as it was bad for his health... but of course there wasn't any real way to subtly inform the boy either. "Who all has chosen their perks?" He asked.

"Suzaku, me, Rivalz, Rolo, and Anya." Milly listed off names, counting them on her fingers. "So we still have Gino, Shirley, Nina, and you."

That was actually quite surprising, Lelouch admitted to himself. He'd been expecting them to take longer to choose their perks. Nina was currently looking over the book intently, and he expected her to take a bit of time. He wouldn't really take much time to choose, but that was because he had a fair idea what he wanted in the first place from leafing through the pages earlier. "Well, I'll choose last again then. I don't really need to look too hard since I've read a bit of the book."

"... you chose Shadowcasting as one, I'm sure." Milly grinned at the quirked brow this received. "Please. You and I both know the ability to cast spells silently and without any visual tells is going to be your go-to as a caster." She just knew how he was wired well enough to figure that much.

Lelouch sighed deeply. "I'm not sure how I feel about this." He muttered. "Have you also taken a guess as to my second choice?" The teen asked curiously.

Milly shrugged. "Nope. You've got way too many options for me to narrow it down. I just knew Shadowcasting was too good for you to pass up." He liked being sneaky, and what sneakier ability was there for a mage than to cast their spells without any sort of tell whatsoever? Silent casting and removal of visual tells made surprise attacks much easier, and that was just how Lelouch liked to do things.

By this point, Nina had selected her perks and passed the book to Gino, who was blazing through the book looking for something interesting.

They were getting quite close. Very soon they would select their inventories, and after that they would perform one last role call and then roll the hundred sided die to determine who started where. Lelouch knew he had better things to be doing with his time, but honestly he didn't care. At this point he was having too much fun to be concerned over the other things he could have been doing. Right now, he would just relax for a while and be Lelouch Lamperouge instead of Zero.

It wasn't like taking a few hours to play a board game would have some long reaching consequences.

* * *

"Alright." Lelouch announced, standing in front of the game board which had been unfolded upon the table. "Time for final role call. Any decisions you made can't be changed after this, but if you want to go back and look over your choices again now is the time." Seeing no one had any intent to change their character, he continued. "Right. Suzaku is an Ascended Paladin?" A nod from the brunette. "Gino is a Fallen Monk?" An enthusiastic bout of nodding came from the blonde, and so Lelouch moved on. "Rolo is a Human Rogue?"

"Yes, big brother." The cherubic assassin replied cheerfully.

"Milly is a High Elf Spellsword?" He turned his gaze onto the girl in question.

"Uh huh!" Came the gleeful reply from the blonde.

"Nina is a Beastfolk Hunter?"

"Y-yes." Nina replied.

"Rivalz, Satyr Warrior?"

"You bet, bud." Rivalz response came with the accompaniment of him flexing nonexistent muscles in a joking manner.

Eyes rolling, Lelouch moved on with the role call. "Anya is a Fae Engineer?" That sounded so damn weird just to say. She was a fairy... with a shotgun, and robots.

"Yes." A monotone answer came from the girl.

"Shirley is a Wood Elf Priest?" Lelouch asked, looking over towards the bubbly girl in question.

"Mhm." She hummed, nodding happily.

"And so that leaves me, a Snow Elf Necromancer." He sighed contentedly. Finally, after the lengthy process of creating characters they would be able to actually play the game. Just one more roll and the real fun could begin. Holding said die in his hands, the teen grinned. "This die determines which of the many zones we begin in." Much like their options for races and classes, there were a lot of areas to begin your game in. On top of that, there were also areas you couldn't start in and would have to reach once the game began. The game board was incredibly large and very detailed, with beautifully drawn scenery to denote which area was which. Whoever designed this game had put their heart and soul into it, for sure. While the systems at play were not terribly complicated, the sheer effort that went into building the world was staggering.

"I'll roll first." Lelouch announced, tossing the die up and down in his hand for a moment. After a few seconds, he rolled the hundred sided die and chuckled at the result. He'd rolled a one. Rolling either a one or a hundred would result in free choice of where to start, but it wasn't all that amazing since he was the first one to choose. Without much thought, he placed himself down in the swampy area in the center of the map. It was the most likely place for others to roll, as there were several different numbers that made one start in the swamp. May as well start somewhere others would probably end up.

Passing the die to Rolo, he was surprised to see the boy land in the Field of the Ancients. It wasn't too far away from his own character, relatively speaking, but the decision was somewhat odd from his little brother. Time didn't seem to have skipped at all, so maybe he'd just let luck run it's course this time?

"Oh, hey! Landed with a buddy!" Gino called triumphantly as he landed in the swamp with Lelouch, setting his own figure down beside the other teen's. "Great luck there, huh Lelouch?"

Rolling his eyes, the dark haired teen replied. "Glad to see you landed next to me instead of the Paladin. I'm sure that meeting would have been awkward." He joked.

"Oh yeah. How is that gonna work anyway? Aren't you like the epitome of what a Paladin would hate as a Necromancer?" Rivalz chimed in as he made his own roll, landing with Rolo in the Field of the Ancients.

"Alignments aren't a thing in this game." Lelouch shrugged. "So Suzaku as a Paladin could, theoretically, have no issue working with me. Or at least be able to hide it well. It's a roleplaying game after all." He found it quite funny how well their game characters fit in with the current situation between the two of them.

"I'm not too keen on the idea of raising the dead to do your bidding." The Japanese teen deadpanned. "Seriously. If this wasn't a game I'd have a serious problem with that." It was disrespecting the dead to the highest degree to use their corpses as mindless puppets. That was just messed up. But for the sake of an entertaining game, he could disregard it. A lot of horrible things happened in games. "But it's not like I'm gonna attack you or anything." Not in the game, at least. He may end up attacking Lelouch later on down the line if his memories did return, but for now he could just pretend they were still friends.

It was... easier than it should have been. Suzaku didn't like how easy it was for him to act like they were still friends, because he was a horrible liar. If he could fool people into believing he and Lelouch weren't bitter enemies, then how much of that was him wishing they could be friends again? Lelouch had, at one point, been his best friend. But now, he'd done things that were just unforgivable. He'd killed Euphy, no, he'd done more than that. He'd _used_ her, that kind and beautiful angel that had done everything she could to help anyone who needed it... and he'd taken her name and dragged it through the mud, by using his disgusting power to bend her mind until she tried to commit genocide with a smile.

Suzaku would never forgive him for that. He couldn't.

A tap on his shoulder drew the teen's attention from his thoughts. "It's your turn." Anya announced dully, handing the teen the die. She had rolled and landed in the swamplands with Gino and Lelouch.

It was around that point that Suzaku realized he'd been staring off into space for a good few minutes by then. "Ah, right. Sorry. Was lost in thought." He rolled the die, blanching at where he'd ended up. All alone in the Cursedwoods, a stretch of land that was positively filled with dark energy and the living dead. It was fairly close to the mountain stronghold of the Ascended's main city, Lighthold. The angel-touched humans built their home just outside of the tainted ground of the Cursedwoods, but close enough that they could cull the undead when the need rose. But instead of being near the city, he was stuck in the middle of what amounted to a barren wasteland with no civilizations whatsoever in it. Quite possibly the worst starting point one could get. Sighing, the teen set his figure down.

"Man. I've got some terrible luck at these games." He lamented, shaking his head at the absurdity. He had sub-par stats as it was, though he'd managed to offset most of the issue with perks, and now he'd been dropped into what was basically a warzone. At least he'd rolled well on money, and didn't have to worry much for supplies.

"So, what's the main objective here?" Milly asked eagerly. "I didn't get to that part."

Lelouch held up a deck of cards. "Essentially, there is some sort of end goal in each game that we work towards. However, that is not revealed until so many Quests are completed." He tapped the quest deck for emphasis. "I draw a card from this deck, which will be the endgame goal, and place it face down on the board." Pointing towards the slot on the board for said card, he continued. "Quests are received rather randomly. At the end of each Phase, which is after every player has made their move, a twenty sided die is rolled. If it's above fifteen, we draw a quest card and then everyone's focus is to complete it. Once the quest is complete, the player who completed the quest rolls a hundred sided die and if the number is above eighty then we reveal the endgame card and focus on completing it." A lot of this game was just going to be spend going around the map to find interesting things to aid you in your quest.

"Makes sense, I guess. We just need to keep Lelouch or Suzaku from doing the rolls, so we can actually have a random chance." Rivalz joked, referring to Lelouch's impossibly high rolls and Suzaku's less than stellar luck with the same rolls.

Chuckling, the dark haired teen drew one of the cards from the deck and placed it down on the board. "I suppose that's a fair concern to..." He trailed off in surprise as the board began to glow brightly. "What the hell?"

A sound like glass breaking erupted through the room, forcing everyone to cover their ears. Forcing himself to continued looking at the light, Lelouch saw something that nearly made his heart stop. In the center of the board, a familiar symbol had appeared, shining with frightening intensity. "Geass?" He murmured, almost in a trance. Just what was going on here?

He hadn't been quiet enough, as even though the glass-shattering sound had continued constantly Suzaku had caught what he said. "You remember!" The boy snarled furiously, preparing to leap over the table and subdue the criminal known as Zero.

And then there was pain. Everyone but Gino and Nina fell to their knees, eyes widening as their bodies were suddenly wracked by pain. Around each of them, a reddish outline of energy appeared briefly before the sensation dissipated, leaving each of the teens in a sort of shock.

The exception was Anya, who's outline darkened further and further until it reached an inky black, the girl's discomfort becoming more and more obvious as she came close to tears... before falling forward like a puppet who'd had it's strings cut.

A red orb extended from the game board, passing through each of the startled teens without any interruption. Through the walls of the clubhouse. Through the people outside. Through the gates of the school. Through the city and it's people.

In a matter of moments, the orb had extended until it covered the entire world in an unearthly reddish hue.

At the origin point of the energy, the game board had disappeared, replaced by a pillar of energy with a crest glowing brightly within. The crest was in the shape of a stylized bird in flight, wings moving in slow motion as though to carry it through the sky.

And each of the teens who had been settling down to play a simple game for the afternoon were gone, as though they had never been there to begin with.

* * *

AN: And chapter one of the rewritten Gods of Geiss arrives, leaving off on a horrible cliffhanger that I'm going to remedy as soon as motivation allows. Apologies for the super long chapter that really didn't have any action at all. Will attempt to remedy this as soon as possible with random encounters of the fight-y kind.

And I'm FINALLY going to be working with legitimate humanoids in a fight scene for a bit. Writing six legged murder bugs and multi-armed menaces and whatnot is friggin' annoying sometimes.


	2. Chapter 2

So. Uh. Second chapter go go go go!

And there is basically nothing actiony in this one either. Just some moderately neat moments.

Anyhow. Time to roll. Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass. I'm also including this entire top segment because it makes me feel better than just stuffing a disclaimer up her.

* * *

The first thing Lelouch noticed when he came to was a weight on his chest. Blearily blinking the sleep from his eyes and attempting to regain his senses, the teen noticed a shock of pink hair as he looked towards the pressure on his body. "... Euphie?" He mumbled near silently, his sleep addled mind belatedly explaining to him that there was no way this was his half-sister. So, then, who was... Anya. Right, they had been in the council room about to play a board game and then everything had gone to hell in the span of a few seconds. Just what was going on here? The board had lit up, and then a Geass symbol had appeared, and as Suzaku was preparing to attack him everyone just... fell. No, not everyone, Gino and Nina hadn't been affected. Why was that? Maybe it only happened to those under the effects of Geass? But then why was Rolo affected?

As the young man's mind rushed a mile a minute attempting to make sense of these events, another figure was standing silently nearby. 'Man. Weird stuff happens to me a lot, but this certainly takes the cake.' Gino idly thought to himself, giving his body another inspection as though looking again would make things less real. His skin was a solid color of red, a dark red that reminded him of blood. His nails had darkened to black and became sharp as knives, both the nails on his toes and his fingers. In addition to that, he had a pair of small horns jutting out of his forehead, also the same black color. They were somewhat small, roughly three inches if he had to guess, and curved slightly upwards. The horns themselves were located just above his eyebrows.

Thankfully, his facial structure hadn't changed much from what he managed to make out from the rather murky water nearby. As a matter of fact, if not for the horns he could have maybe written this off as an elaborate prank, because he was sure there was some kind of makeup that would allow one to cover another person entirely, one that would not wipe away easily. But the horns... he could feel them. In his head. Like how one could sort of feel their fingernails, he could feel the horns. He'd toyed with them briefly, but stopped shortly after beginning because he was becoming kind of disturbed.

And the worst part was the tail. He had a goddamn tail. It was about three feet long, the same red shade as his skin, and tipped with a spade that seemed soft to the touch... but he'd accidentally discovered that clenching a certain muscle in the tail itself would leave the spade hard as steel. This was another reason Gino was aware this whole thing was not a prank of any sort, because he could move the tail as though it were a part of his body. And that both terrified and intrigued him.

His clothing had changed as well. Gone was the simple garb of a student, replaced now with clothing he sort of associated with Suzaku. Loose legged pants in a dark grey color, with a robelike top that heavily resembled one of the brunette's training outfits. A gi, he believed the tops were called. It was also grey, though a lighter tone than the pants... he was fairly certain they were called hakama? The only real splash of color on his current getup would be the wide green sash covering his abdomen, the sash being the same color as his Knight cloak. On his feet he wore a pair of sandals, made of what he assumed was leather judging by the feeling.

All in all, he looked like the rulebook's depiction of a Monk. A Fallen Monk as a matter of fact. And that was concerning on a lot of levels, considering the appearance of his two companions, one of whom was finally stirring.

"Yo, Lelouch." Gino called out, drawing the other boy's attention as he made to sit up. "Have a good nap?"

Having only just woken up from his rather deep sleep, the teen was moving a bit slower than the norm. He gently shifted Anya so that he could sit up, making sure not to drop her onto the ground as he did so. She was quite light, but for some reason he felt like she shouldn't be. One of his hands touched cold metal and it was around then that he realized the girl was wearing a suit of armor. 'What in the world?' He thought to himself, straightening at the sound of Gino's voice. "Gino." He greeted, turning his gaze to meet the other boy. "Do you have any idea what's... what the hell?" Lelouch's eyes shot wide as he got a good look at the blonde, who's physical changes were staggering. "Gino, what happened to you? You're..." Realization dawned behind the teen's eyes, tinged with a good bit of skepticism. He glanced down at his own hand, stifling a gasp as he saw pale blue skin and sharp purple nails. Not painted, no, the nails themselves were a dark purple, bordering black.

"So you noticed." Gino replied with a small grin. "Seems we've changed physically to match the race we chose for the game. I'm quite certain this," he brought the tail around from behind him with a hand. "is a wee bit outside of the realm of normal." Good God, it was really messed up what was happening right now. He was in a friggin' board game. And apparently, so was everyone else.

Spotting a medium sized rock, Lelouch managed to stand, carrying the still unconscious form of Anya and setting the girl down with her back against it. As he stood from his crouched position after depositing the girl, he inspected her for a moment.

She hadn't undergone many physical changes. Her ears were a bit pointier, and that was just about all he could glean at a glance. Her attire had shifted into a full suit of mail armor, which seemed to offer a full range of movement. He noticed that there was a rather conspicuous weapon nearby that likely belonged to her, a shotgun of simple make. Deciding that, for the moment, it was best if everyone was kept as far away from their weapons as possible he left the thing to sit on a dry patch of ground.

"I don't really know how this could have happened..." Lelouch muttered, shaking his head as he walked over towards the water himself. Hands reaching up to feel at his ears, he confirmed that they were definitely the longer, elven ears that he had been expecting. A glance to the water told him a bit more, that his hair had paled to a snowy white and that there was a purple tribal marking in the shape of a snowflake stretching from the bridge of his nose, with it's top stretching up between his eyes to reach the center of his forehead, two arms branching out below his eyes, and another pair of them trailing past his cheeks, their tips ending at the back of his jaw.

His attire had shifted as well. The outfit itself was fairly simple looking. A pair of black, loose legged pants covered his lower body, with no real distinctive marks on them anywhere. At about shin level, the legs were wrapped by two grey pieces of cloth tied around them, which held the loose clothing down some. A grey cloth tunic covered his upper body, again with no defining features that made it stand out, it's sleeves coming to the wrist and being held with two more strips of black cloth wrappings. Over this, he wore a rugged looking cloth coat, which was black with golden trim, though the gold wasn't a particularly vivid hue. The coat's sleeves came just past his elbows, and the tail of it came down to about mid knee level, with a cut in the back of the coattail that left it in two points. Holding the coat closed around the waist was a brown leather belt, with several pouches attached to it. And to finish the appearance off, he was also wearing a pair of leather sandals, the same kind that the other teen was sporting.

"No clue either, man." Gino admitted, plopping down where he stood to make himself more comfortable. "Legitimately, this is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me. And I don't get to say that often." He lived a rather bizarre and oftentimes hectic life, so usually the weird stuff that came with that was something he had become used to over time. This was a total curveball. "So, we basically have no idea how to get out of here do we?" He asked curiously.

Lelouch shrugged lackadaisically. "I suppose not. If we finish the game's objective, that might set us free... but we don't even know what the objective is." Or if finishing the game would even let them out in the first place. They really had no assurance of that one way or another. "In all honesty, I think our best bet would be to try and gather up everyone and make a plan from there."

Nodding, the blonde glanced over towards the unconscious form of Anya. "Man... what the hell happened to her before we got sucked in here? As a matter of fact, what happened to all of you guys? The only ones who didn't have that weird glowy thing were me and the glasses girl." That had actually scared the shit out of him, because everyone started collapsing.

"I... don't really know..." Lelouch admitted, rubbing his forehead. "All I do know about that was that it was incredibly painful." It had felt like his blood was on fire, though the sensation had passed quickly. "And whatever happened to us, it seemed like Anya got the worst of it." Her own aura had lasted the longest from what he'd glimpsed, and the coloration had also been unique out of all of them. Adding that to the fact that the girl still hadn't woken up and it didn't take a genius to realize something odd was going on.

A frown found it's way to Gino's face. "And what about that thing with Suzaku? He seemed ready to attack you all of a sudden." Suzaku was a nice guy normally, and seeing him freak out like that was unusual. But at that moment when the weird symbol popped up, Lelouch said something and suddenly Suzaku was ready to pounce.

"It's complicated, Gino." The white haired teen replied with a sigh. "It's also somewhat personal and between the two of us. Could you drop that one, please?" He wasn't really lying. The situation between them was quite personal and extremely complicated, and he really didn't want to talk about it. Let alone to the Knight of Three. He would need to deal with that situation as it came, but he just hoped he ran into Rolo before Suzaku.

Curiosity sated, for the moment, the blonde Knight dropped the subject. "... do you think Anya is alright?" He asked, a worried gaze turning over to the girl. "She's... well, I don't know... I just worry about her." He wasn't really supposed to be responsible for her or anything, but she needed someone to look out for her and he was pretty much the only one willing to do it.

Lelouch shrugged. "She's breathing normally, from what I saw. There's not much else I can tell at a glance. I'm hoping she's just asleep." Enemy or not, she was Nunnally's age and the thought of her being harmed made him rather uncomfortable, especially as she had been... wait...

What in the world? He could _remember_ her. She had been good friends with Nunnally, and as such he'd gotten closer to her as well. The two of them often ran about the gardens of the villa, leaving it to him to hunt them down. They were nearly inseparable, even going so far as to share a bed more often than not. The etiquette lessons with his mother were nothing more than an excuse for the girl to have a more normal upbringing, as her parents were extremely busy folks who would have to have left the raising of their child to the staff of their home. As such, the pink haired girl had been left with Marianne vi Britannia as a favor so that she could experience a family upbringing as opposed to being raised by the help.

He remembered the picture. One day, just after beating Clovis in another game of chess, he'd taken some time alone to muse over his next plan for playing against Schneizel, who was simply on another level compared to his pompous half-brother. As he'd been considering his tactics, Anya had popped up and asked what he was doing.

After a few minutes of talking, she'd asked for a picture. And since the girl was a close friend by that point, he'd indulged her without much fuss.

And that was how that picture had ended up on her phone. She'd asked him for one, and he'd let her take it. And it all made sense, because he remembered.

The frightening part of this was that he also remembered just _why_ he'd forgotten in the first place. Charles zi Britannia had Geass even when he was a child, and had used the power on him long before he had been aware of it's existence. His memories had been twisted so that Anya was nothing more than an idle memory, a figure who was around but not of any note.

'... I was wrong.' Lelouch admitted to himself mentally, a touch of fury lighting up inside of him. 'It appears that he _did_ take the time to visit Nunnally in the hospital...' Clenching his fist, a terrible thought came to the transformed teen.

What if Nunnally's blindness, which was said to be caused by trauma, had been inflicted on her by the machinations of his father?

From his experience, the Emperor's Geass required direct eye contact, and if he was correct it also required one to be able to see. So if Nunnally was blinded in the first place from the trauma, why could she not remember Anya? Clearly, her memories had been altered as well... but if she were blinded, that didn't seem possible. His own Geass at the very least did not have any effect if the target couldn't see it. Perhaps Charles zi Britannia's power worked differently, and in all likelihood it may... but at the same time... what if he was right? What if his theory was correct, and the "trauma" keeping Nunnally from looking upon the world was in fact a result of their father's tampering?

'Before I kill him...' Lelouch promised himself with a mental snarl. 'I will ask. In the end, it won't change the outcome... but I _need_ to know. Would he truly be so heartless as to steal the ability to see from his own daughter?' Nothing would change in the end. Charles zi Britannia was still going to die. However, perhaps his death would be more painful if Lelouch's theory was correct.

"Er, hey, bud? You okay there? You don't look so hot." Gino chimed in, drawing the teen from his murderous thoughts.

Shaking his head to clear away the dark train of thought, Lelouch replied. "Sorry, sorry, just had a moment." A sort of rustling noise drew their attention towards the third figure in the clearing, who was beginning to stir. The sound of her armor jostling made it fairly easy to notice the girl getting up.

"... h-huh?" The first thing out of the girl's mouth as she sat up was a confused noise as she looked around her, eyes wide. "W-what is t-this?" She stuttered, glancing around her frantically, a gesture that was extremely out of place on the normally stoic Knight of Six.

Extremely concerned by the sudden shift in behavior, Gino made his way to the girl's side in a matter of seconds. "Anya, are you alright? It's me, Gino." He quickly assured her, noticing the reaction his sudden movement had caused.

"Gino?" She mumbled in awe, looking him over. "B-but... you're red." What was going on? Why did she feel so strange? Her head was fuzzy, her chest felt sort of tight, and she didn't know why but she was feeling... she was _feeling_. Her emotions were going haywire, it seemed, and it just didn't make sense to her. What was going on? Why was she experiencing her emotions so clearly, so vividly? They weren't usually like this. She couldn't remember the last time her mind hadn't been covered by that dull cloud that kept her from really feeling anything.

"Yeah, we're in a weird situation." Gino chuckled, offering her an assuring smile. "But don't worry. We're gonna be fine. Me and Lelouch are talking about what to do, and now that you're awake we can... huh?" The teen blinked after a moment, realizing something was amiss. Anya wasn't paying attention to him anymore, her eyes were locked on the blue skinned elf that was Lelouch.

"... Lulu?" The pinkette asked, a wave of memories and emotions assaulting her all of a sudden as she heard his name. Her time back at the Aries Villa rushed back to her, the memories she had long since forgotten suddenly playing before her in with extreme clarity. She could practically smell the flowers of the garden, feel the cool breeze that swept through, and more importantly she could _feel_ the emotions that the memories brought her. And that feeling was so clear, so simple, and so amazing. For her, the girl who had lived nearly half of her life without the ability to grasp the memories that she had made for herself, this was the most wonderful thing that could ever have happened to her. The happiest time of her life was replaying in front of her eyes, and at the center of the whirling cyclone of memories and emotions was Lelouch vi Britannia, the kind and caring boy who had treated her like another little sister.

Lelouch Lamperouge, the teenager who looked so much like the long lost prince was in fact that same prince. And her memories, torn and fractured, supplied her with one other face that Lelouch wore.

Zero. The masked terrorist who had taken the world by storm, his true identity was that of the Britannian schoolboy Lelouch Lamperouge, the long lost seventeenth prince of Britannia who had been exiled as a political prisoner to Japan just before the war.

Memories of meetings with the Emperor, meetings where her body had not been in her control, came flooding back to her.

But none of that mattered, because Lulu was Lulu. It didn't matter what other masks he wore, in the end he was always just going to be Lulu. And so, without thinking, the pink haired girl quickly stood and darted over towards the teen, ignoring the surprised squawk this drew from Gino, and threw herself at the blue skinned boy gleefully.

Blinking in surprise, the elven boy let out a slight grunt as the younger girl tackled him, sending him back a few steps but not managing to knock him over despite the fact that she was in metal armor. 'Wow...' He noted idly, staring down at the girl who had just rammed into him with more strength than the academy's best rugby player. 'This body is... a lot higher spec than my own.' He hardly felt it when the girl tackled him, instinctively catching her and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Noticing her hopeful ruby gaze meeting his own amethyst, Lelouch offered her a small, genuine smile. "I suppose this may sound strange, but it's good to see you again Anya."

"I missed you." The girl mumbled, tightening her grip on the older boy. "I didn't even know how much I did until just now, but I missed you." Her emotions and memories hadn't worked correctly in years. And with some of the memories she had, which were now available to her in great detail, she _almost_ wished that she could go back to that way. Knowing what she had done, just how many people she had killed, and how she'd been able to do it all without a care in the world... it made her sick inside. But none of that mattered right now, because Lulu was here. She could worry about her blood stained hands and guilty conscious later, right now she just wanted him to hold her.

Off to the side, Gino was confused. Extremely confused. However, this appeared to be a touching reunion so he would let it go on until the moment dissipated before asking what the hell was going on. But Anya was acting weird.

... okay actually she was acting more normal than she ever had, but that _was_ the weird part. Her eyes were so bright. In the few moments he'd looked into her eyes, he'd seen a spark of life that was just so much brighter than they'd ever been before, and it was beautiful. Before, her eyes were comparable to those of a doll or, when he had felt particularly morbid, a corpse. But right now, her eyes were alight with emotion and it was incredible to see.

So Gino would wait until they had finished their moment before asking why in the world they were acting like two long lost friends being reunited, because he had never seen Anya happier than she was right then.

* * *

"Uhg... my head..." Rolo mumbled to himself, rolling from his back to his knees. He had a horrible headache, though it was clearing up quite rapidly. "What happened?" He'd been in the council room with everyone else, and then his big brother had put that card on the board. And from there, everything went out of control immediately. Managing to get up off of his hands and knees, the boy sat against a nearby tree and looked himself over.

He didn't seem different at all with exception to his attire. His uniform was gone, it had been replaced with a set of leather armor straight out of a fantasy game. Padded leather pants, boots made of the same material. A leather breastplate covered his upper body, and a pair of pauldrons rested on his shoulders. The design was exceedingly simple, clearly made for practicality over anything else. It was easy to move in from what he noticed during his unsteady relocation. At his hip was a sheathed dagger, something that brought him some slight comfort. The set of throwing knives slung across his chest in a bandolier were a new addition to his usual weapon set, but he was confident with them.

"Dunno what happened to tell ya' the truth." Rivalz' voice drew the younger boy's attention as the blue haired teen let himself be known.

"Rivalz? What... what happened to you?" Rolo's eyes widened at the sight of him, coming to the stark realization that something was very wrong here.

The treasurer of the Student Council had a pair of hooves. His legs had morphed in such a way that he was capable of standing upright, but in place of feet he had a pair of hooves, and there was a layer of fur from his hooves up to about knee level. Swishing behind the teen aimlessly was a tail, tipped with a darker shade of blue fur. His ears had grown slightly pointed and a pair of small, ram-like horns had developed on the sides of his head. But his upper body was mostly unchanged. He retained a somewhat lanky build, though Rolo could tell at first glance that he was more muscular than before even beneath the heavy armor the teen wore.

Rivalz was garbed in a metal breastplate that did not extend to his arms, the protection of his limbs being delegated to the metal gauntlets and spaulders he wore. His lower body was garbed in simple brown cloth pants, with metal greaves at the front to protect the limbs. Attached to them by leather straps were a second set of plates to protect the back of his legs. At his hip, on the right side, there was a large quiver of sorts, filled with what appeared to be several javelins. At his left was a short sword, held within a sheath of it's own. A kite shield sat upon his back, arranged in such a way that he could grab it quickly with his left hand.

All in all, he looked like a well armored Satyr Warrior. Which was bizarre and frightening in a lot of ways for Rolo.

The Satyr shrugged. "Tellin' the truth? I don't know what happened to any of us." He admitted carelessly. "If I had to guess then every single thing that made the world a reasonable place to live is now no longer in effect, as we appear to be inside of the game Milly brought along." And furthermore, he could remember things that he'd forgotten. Things he'd been made to forget. Things that answered a few questions, only to open the door to so many more.

For instance, just who the hell was Rolo? Lelouch's little sister was Nunnally. Nunnally vi Britannia, the Viceroy of Area Eleven, was the little sister of their student council vice president. So for obvious reasons, this meant that Lelouch was royalty. Lelouch vi Britannia, the long lost prince of the Empire. And he'd been hiding out comfortably at Ashford Academy with the full support of the headmaster, who clearly knew just who he was harboring. Which meant Milly was also aware.

Nunnally was Lelouch's sister. So, then, why did he spend a year believing Rolo was his younger brother? The Emperor, Charles zi Britannia, had done something to him. To him, Milly, and Shirley. He'd toyed with their minds, fabricated memories and implanted them inside of the three of them. How? What kind of fantasy crap was that? He'd mind fucked them, even before using that damn power. He'd revealed in a fit of theatrics just why he was manipulating them.

He'd told them that Lelouch, their good friend who had a mysterious past, was actually Zero, the masked terrorist who had thrown the world into chaos.

And now they were in a damn board game with three Knights of the Round, a terrorist that was once a prince, an unknown boy who'd wormed his way into their world, and two people who were going to be extremely torn up by one of their oldest friends being Zero considering he'd killed a father in one case and an idol on another.

And perhaps worst of all, he had **_hooves_** for crying out loud.

It was baffling him how his body knew how to stay upright considering he had hooves instead of proper feet. The horns and the tail were one thing, but the hooves were really freaking him out. "... man." He sighed drearily. "If I'd known this crap was going to happen, I would have picked Half-Orc." God, this felt so weird. And the weirdest part was that he didn't really feel unnatural with this body, it felt like he'd lived his whole life like this.

"... this is strange." Rolo admitted quietly, looking around him. What had happened to cause this? What was that game that Milly had brought them? "... I wish I'd landed with big brother..." He mumbled worriedly, pulling his dagger from it's sheath to inspect it.

Rivalz sighed. Man, at the very least Rolo genuinely seemed to be of the mind that he was Lelouch's brother. It was hard to fake that kind of concern. That was something at least. "Rolo, we should probably try and look for the others." He didn't know quite how he felt about the fact that Rolo's go-to for occupying his attention was to play with his knife, but hey. One more mystery.

"You're right. Didn't Nina roll the same starting area as us?" Rolo asked curiously, eyes darting around to try and locate the bespectacled girl. "I can't see her anywhere."

An uncomfortable grunt came from the larger boy. "Yeah... you're right." A sudden howl drew his attention. "What the hell was that?" Rivalz shouted, turning in the direction of the noise. A few seconds later, a shrill scream cut through the silence the roar had left in it's wake. "Oh shit that's Nina!" Oh shit, oh shit. If he remembered right they had been dropped in the Field of the Ancients, homeland of the Beastfolk, Nina's chosen race. From what he'd gleaned of the lore, this place was populated heavily by large beasts. Which meant Nina was probably now being attacked by one.

And of course this was what they first encountered on their merry little trip to fantasy-land.

Before he could even think, Rivalz' body was in motion. Hooves thundered across the flatlands, rushing over towards the noise. A fairly large copse of trees was where it had originated, and with the sound of metal rattling and hooves trampling the ground underfoot Rivalz dashed towards the location at breakneck speeds. 'Dear lord I'm fast.' He thought to himself as the realization hit him that he was moving far faster than a human being should be able to. 'This is insane.' A moderately sized rocky outcropping sat between him and his destination, and Rivalz reacted instinctively.

As soon as his right foot touched the ground about three yards before the rocky obstruction, the teen's legs tensed and he leaped into the air. The jump carried him much higher than he had expected, clearing the stones without any issue and continuing to fly forward at high velocity. 'Oh shit, oh shit, I overshot that horribly and how do I LAND!?' The ground was approaching quickly and Rivalz had no idea how he was going to land from that jump.

A cloud of dust kicked up and the earth trembled as the teen landed, before the dust was blown away just as quickly by the speed of the figure that rushed out of it. "Oh man, that was fucking awesome!" Rivalz shouted, eyes widening with glee as he realized just how _easy_ it was to operate this new body. He'd landed the jump without any issue, making a few cracks in the hard ground as he impacted it, before launching off at the same speed he'd been moving at before. The treeline was closer than ever before.

"G-get away from me!" A voice screamed as a figure darted out of the trees, a terrified expression on her face as she stumbled but continued to run. "What's going o-on here!?" She had woken to the sound of a dreadful howl, only to suddenly find herself alone in an unfamiliar place. Moments later, before she could even begin to figure out what was happening, she was set upon by a horrifying monster that defied the standards set by reality. Wolves were not meant to become so large, not under any circumstances. It simply wasn't scientifically possible for that kind of growth on a canine.

The gigantic wolf that burst from the treeline shortly after her disagreed, snarling and snapping at the air as eager drool flew from it's tongue, a pair of piercing yellow eyes regarding it's fleeing prey. Four powerful legs tensed as the creature took off again, leaving a cloud of dust at the force it had used to take off.

Nina, unable to move quickly enough to outrun the fearsome predator, was caught by surprise as the enormous creature landed with it's forepaws on her back, forcing her to the ground instantly. Rolling onto her back, the girl whimpered at the proximity of the hideous wolf's maw to her flesh. Settling it's paws on the ground on either side of her, the giant wolf began to playfully sniff at her, enjoying the moment of finally finishing it's hunt.

"GET DOWN, NINA!" A voice roared, drawing the attention of the girl and the wolf that had been moments away from taking it's first bite of her.

As the wolf looked up to regard the new interference, something collided with it's head with almost as much force as a speeding car. A furious sound of metal striking something hard and the morbid noise of bones crunching alerted Nina to the fact that she had been saved, as the momentum from the charging figure transferred into the now fatally wounded wolf's body.

The creature, which had been at least as large as a horse, had been no match for the concentrated force of a shield bash from the metal-clad figure that had charged it. Striking it in such a delicate area as the skull, at that kind of speed... it was no surprise that the creature had died near instantly as it's head caved in. The body of the monster wolf was sent hurtling back at great speeds, as the perpetrator of the attack landed firmly on the ground with a shield held before him by his left arm, the right hand resting on the handle of his sheathed sword.

"R-R-Rivalz?" Nina asked, awestruck by the display of speed and strength, and by the appearance of the one who had performed it. She had heard Rivalz' voice just before the creature was struck, and the shock of blue hair on her savior's head was just like Rivalz' own hair. But that couldn't be right. No, no, none of this made sense! The man who had saved her had hooves, a tail! Horns on his head! He had been moving at the same speed as a motorized bike, that wasn't possible! And the creature he'd killed, the wolf, it couldn't have existed either! It was the size of a horse for goodness sake! What was going on!? "W-w-what is g-going on h-here?" She stuttered out, confusion taking it's toll on her ability to speak.

The blue haired teen turned to offer a sheepish smile towards her, a smile that left no doubt in her mind that this creature was Rivalz. "Not a clue. Sorry." He laughed, tail swishing playfully behind him.

Sighing tiredly, Nina allowed herself to fall back onto the ground. "I'm so confused..." She mumbled.

"Wow, Rivalz... you move fast." Another voice chimed in, it's owner seemingly appearing from thin air. "That was really neat to watch." Rolo wasn't even lying. That was something straight out of a movie that the blue haired teen had just pulled, and it was incredible to see it happen. He'd just barely been able to keep up, and even then he'd been too far behind to contribute to the actual fight... well, there wasn't really much of a fight to begin with. Rivalz had just shield bashed something so hard it had died. "Is your shield still intact after that?" The cherubic assassin asked in genuine curiosity.

Blinking, Rivalz looked down to see that there was a fairly small dent in the shield, but it was otherwise fine. "Huh. Good material I guess." If this was the shield he'd picked up from the item select, it was actually _very_ good material. Enough so that bones really shouldn't have even dented it. That kind of terrified him. What the hell was up with that wolf's skull if it dented a shield made of steel that had been strengthened with an assortment of magical metals? At the very least he'd killed the thing in one go rather than having to actually fight it. He was glad that he'd shelled out for a high quality shield at the start rather than just grabbing an iron one or something.

"... um..." Nina, who had remained in a sort of startled silence at Rolo's appearance, made a small noise that drew the attention of the other two. "... Who... who are you?" She asked Rolo, drawing an uncomfortable expression from the boy. "You call Lelouch brother, but he doesn't have a younger brother. Nunnally is his sister... so who are you?"

The cherubic teen sighed heavily, especially concerned with the expression on Rivalz' face. It was the look of someone who knew. "... you know too, then, Rivalz?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah. I'm aware that you're not his little brother, at least not by blood." The blue haired teen replied. "I'm guessing the fact that he's treating you like he used to treat Nunnally has something to do with the Emperor, right?" Noting the shocked expression this brought to the boy, he chuckled. "I'm remembering a lot of things, Rolo. Things that I hadn't known I forgot."

Eyes widening at the revelation, Rolo became slightly frantic as he realized something. He remembered things too. Things that hadn't been there before. Nothing was specific. It was more sensations and feelings than anything, as though the memories would never have been clear, but they weren't there before. He recalled... playing? No, he'd been with the Directorate ever since he was old enough to walk... no, no he hadn't. He'd been a normal child once, but not for long. The memories were fuzzy, he could hardly recall them even with them brought to the forefront. People were talking, but the words weren't clear... until at last, he received a clear image. Charles zi Britannia, the Emperor. His face flashed clearly in his head, along with a familiar symbol lighting up in the man's eye.

'... was I... was I really abducted from my home?' Rolo pondered, a sickening feeling rising in his stomach. 'I had a family once. I... I don't remember who they were. I don't know who I was, but at one point... I _was_ somebody. I wasn't always a tool.' That was a painful revelation as much as it was a blessing. His chance to live as a person rather than a tool had been stolen from him. He hadn't been born for the purpose of being an assassin, nor had he been an orphan taken in off the streets. He had been taken from a family he didn't even get to know, never became the person he could have been. And yet, at the same time... he was a person once, a human being rather than a tool.

Shaking his head to clear such thoughts away, the boy looked back towards the others who were clearly expecting an answer. "How much do you know?" He asked, directing his response towards the Satyr. "This is important. I'm not going to give away anything that will endanger my big brother." He could easily escape from the two of them. He was a Rogue, and the skills were implanted within this body. His mind had already integrated a great deal of the information due to the similarity to his own experiences. As of right then, he was probably the one most adapted to this world since he was already playing his role as a spy and assassin.

"Not much. Just that you're not who you say you are..." Rivalz frowned heavily. "And neither is Lelouch." He noted, sending a glance towards Nina that Rolo didn't miss.

'So he does know big brother is Zero.' The Emperor must have revealed it to them, thinking his power wouldn't be broken. How unfortunate, in many ways. But, honestly? This was something he could work with. He would take a risk, and if it didn't pay off he would run and try to find Lelouch before anyone more dangerous did. He couldn't kill these two, he'd been expressly forbidden to do so as a matter of fact.

Big brother valued his friends too much to end them, even if it was for the best that they die. And he'd made absolutely certain to drive that point home. They were not to be harmed.

"No, neither of us are who we say we are, in more ways than one." Rolo began, placid smile in place. "I'm going to explain our situation to you. I ask that you don't interrupt me, and if you attack me then just know that I will be able to escape without any issue. Keep that in mind." Saying that, he briefly flickered out of sight, appearing a few yards away after a moment. "As a Rogue, I'm able to use mana to fade out of view. I'm more than capable of getting away unscathed." He had to drive that point home so that they wouldn't try to put it to the test.

"Why would we attack you?" Nina asked, narrowing her eyes.

Rolo directed his smile onto her. "Because I'm an assassin. I have been for as long as I can remember." He unsheathed his dagger, made a few quick, skillful slashes, and then resheathed the blade with skill that could only be developed through practice. "I'm more familiar with the weapons on my person right now than either of you will be even after you're able to sort through the information in your heads."

Taking a cautious stance in front of Nina, Rivalz replied. "So then why are you pretending to be Lelouch's brother?" He had a fairly good idea, honestly, but he wanted to hear it.

"I was sent by the Emperor and my previous master V.V. to observe and, if need be, eliminate Lelouch." Rolo admitted, raising a hand to stall them from interrupting. "This is the part I especially want to go uninterrupted." He announced. Seeing them hold their questions and, in the case of Rivalz, attacks, he carried on. "Lelouch vi Britannia was exiled from his homeland eight years ago and sent to Japan as a political prisoner with his sister Nunnally. The two of them lived for a year with the Kururugi family, befriending Kururugi Suzaku. Once the war struck, Suzaku and Lelouch were forced to travel on foot through a warzone carrying Nunnally along with them. It was at the end of that journey, having finally reached a place where they would be safe for the immediate future, that Lelouch declared that he would one day obliterate Britannia and all it stood for."

His speech was toneless as he recited this historic account, the mask of a smile remaining on his face as he glanced towards Nina specifically. "Seven years later, an accident occurred that led to Lelouch finding himself in the middle of a battle in Shinjuku."

Recognition lit up in Rivalz' eyes as he recalled that event. "On that day, Lelouch was caught in a military purge of Shinjuku as Prince Clovis was searching for an experiment that had been stolen. Rather than lay down and die, he took command of the rebels fighting the military and decimated Britannia's forces in that battle. From there, he went forward to kill Prince Clovis la Britannia. That was the beginning of the Black Knights, and the birth of Zero."

An arrow was fired at him faster than he could have anticipated, though Rolo did still dodge it. "I expected that kind of reply." He noted evenly, gaze on the furious face of Nina, who had surprised herself with the speed she had put the bow at her back to use. It was now in her hands, with a second arrow nocked and ready to fly. "You recall what I said earlier, correct?" He asked.

Forcing herself to calm somewhat, the girl spoke in a voice tainted with fury. "You're lying!" She shouted, snarling angrily. "Zero is a monster. There's no way Lelouch is like that!"

This time, Rolo was taken by surprise. "... you... think I'm lying?" He asked, baffled. That was why she'd shot at him, for supposedly besmirching Lelouch's name? Rather than being furious at Lelouch, and by extension himself, she was just angry because she thought Lelouch was too good of a person to be Zero. "I'm telling the truth, you know. I wasn't even done with my story." His eyes were glued to the bow, making certain that he had the time to dodge in case she did let loose the second arrow. How had she pulled that bow out so quickly? Rolo had very nearly been hit just because he figured it would take her longer to draw it.

Oh, wait. She'd chosen the Quick Draw perk hadn't she? Weapons were drawn twice as fast. That explained it. Briefly, he took stock of the girl's appearance so as to avoid any other unpleasant surprises he could actually identify. She was fairly human, just like him, though her skin had a very slight green tint to it. Her eyes hadn't changed in color, though the pupils had turned to slits. Her upper canine teeth had been replaced by legitimate fangs, though they were small enough to fit in her mouth without issue. He was actually fairly certain that her specific race produced venom as well.

The girl's outfit was simple; as a matter of fact, it was practically a carbon copy of his own with exception to the leather skirt she wore in place of pants. The skirt was padded and offered moderate protection if he had to guess, coming down to just about knee level. Her feet were covered with a pair of leather boots just like his own, and her upper body was protected by the same kind of leather breastplate he had chosen. At her back was a quiver filled with arrows, and several pouches lined a belt at her waist.

Surprising both of them, Rivalz took hold of the nocked arrow by the shaft. "Nina, put the bow down. He's not lying. Lelouch is Zero." He got straight to the point, the brutal honesty making the bespectacled girl flinch.

"B-but... he k-killed Princess E-Euphemia?" She whimpered, lowering the bow despairingly. "W-why would he do that to his own sister?" Half sister, yes, but still blood. He'd killed Prince Clovis and then moved on to murder Princess Euphemia within that same year. Prince Clovis had been more of a distant figure, and she hadn't known anything of him except that he was an artist and a prince. So his death had not caused her in particular any pain, aside from the fact that a Prince had been killed and the following fiasco that it caused.

Euphemia, on the other hand, she had met twice. Once, when the princess had stepped in to save the hostages at Kawaguchi during the hotel jacking. She had stood up and demanded to speak with the leader of the terrorists, drawing all of their attention away from the hostages and towards her. If not for her stepping in, Nina didn't want to consider what those men would have done to them.

And the second time, she had gone out of her way to meet the princess herself so she could thank her. And Princess Euphemia had allowed it, with a smile. She seemed genuinely happy to speak with her.

Such a genuinely kind, compassionate person. Nina wasn't foolish enough to presume she was particularly close with the princess, but she had idolized her.

Her death, brought about by Zero, had hurt. For quite some time, her mental state had not been particularly stable; Nina was fully aware of this. She had tried to detonate a sakuradite explosive in the middle of Ashford in a fit of hysterics. That was a horrible memory and she regretted it immensely. It was just a lucky break that it hadn't worked.

But now she was being told that Lelouch, one of the few actual friends she had in this world, was the one responsible for murdering Princess Euphemia? His own sister?

She slumped forward, dropping the bow entirely. Tears began to gather in her eyes, before they burst forth uninhibited. Why was this happening? It didn't make any sense. Was the boy she knew even a real person, or was it just a mask to hide a murderer? What about Nunnally? Did he genuinely care for her?

He had to have, there was no way in the world that anyone could fake such wholehearted love and devotion. So, then, was it only Nunnally that he extended that care to? Was everything else about him false?

'This is awful.' Nina thought thought to herself. How had this day turned out like this? She had just wanted to take a short vacation, to enjoy herself with her old friends for a while before going back to work. Instead, she had these horrible things revealed to her and she was stuck in some bizarre fantasy world.

What was she supposed to do? Before, Zero was just a faceless villain who needed to die for his crimes. Now he had a face, a name, and history with her. And she just didn't know what to do about it. Zero was still a criminal, but now he was one she knew personally. Trying to kill the masked man in China had been hard enough to stomach, even if she was positively furious to see him in person, but now with the thought of Lelouch's face beneath that mask...

Nina felt sick. If things had gone just a little differently in China, she could have _killed_ Lelouch. And more than just killing a human being, which was hard enough for her to consider even if it was a murderer, it could have been a close friend of hers that she had stabbed.

"Euphemia..." Rolo muttered, a deep sigh slipping past his lips. Lelouch had never gotten over that incident. He never would. His big brother would move past it, he already had for that matter, but there wouldn't be a single day in his life that Lelouch didn't regret her death.

It pained Rolo to even think about that, because it made his brother so sad. "Euphemia's death was an accident. Big brother never wanted to kill her." Despite how much he hated thinking about the princess and her death, Rolo was aware that his big brother would want his friends on his side.

Or, at the very least, he didn't want them against him.

Tensing up at the sudden mention of her idol's name, Nina caught the statement that followed. "... an accident?" She murmured through her tears. "H-how?"

"I'd like to know as well." Rivalz muttered, feeling like this was going to go into strange territory soon. Well, stranger territory. The Emperor could mess with people's memories, Lelouch was a former prince and current terrorist, that same teen's little brother was actually an assassin assigned to guard him, and his memories had been altered as well... man. This whole situation was all kinds of fucked up. What was next?

Rolo continued with his story. "This is why I didn't want any interruptions, you know." He jibed lightly, before moving one. "Big brother has an ability, a power called Geass. It allows him to give someone a command that they absolutely cannot refuse." Seeing the disbelief in Nina's still teary eyes, Rolo gestured to the world around them, as if to ask if she really considered the thought so impossible after all of this. "I'm not joking. Rivalz knows that this kind of power exists, considering Charles zi Britannia has used it on him."

"The weird thing he did to mess with our memories, right?" Rivalz sought a bit of clarification, surprising Nina again with his admission to the existence of what was basically magic.

Nodding, Rolo replied. "Yes. That power is called Geass, and it manifests differently in each person. Mine isn't anything like big brother's or the Emperor's, for example." It felt really bad to give out all of this valuable information, and it was honestly getting to the point where Lelouch would probably scold him for being reckless, but this was his first act as a person of his own. He wanted to see it through to the end.

"These powers are dangerous, not just to the people they're used on but also to the user. My Geass stops people's perception of time, with exception to myself. So I can freely walk around while everyone else is effectively useless. It was one of the main reasons I was trained as an assassin." He explained the final part with a grimace, recalling again the fuzzy memories he could barely grasp

"You keep on saying you were an assassin, and you're involved somehow with the Royal Family right?" Rivalz asked, drawing a small nod from the boy. "So, then, who exactly did you work for? The Emperor himself, or just some organization of Britannia?"

"Neither, really." Rolo explained to the blue haired boy with a frown. "My previous master, V.V., is one of two people in this world capable of giving Geass, and the organization he led was separate from Britannia. He possesses something known as a Code, which has been practically engraved into his body and soul. The Code grants eternal life, including the inability to die from any and all sources; starving, dehydration, decapitation, drowning, and so forth. Put simply, a Code Bearer is not capable of dying until the Code is passed on."

Nina shook her head slowly. "T-this makes no sense. It isn't s-scientifically possible." But, then, neither was the reality she found herself facing as she was stuck inside of a board game.

"Forces other than science drive this world." The cherubic assassin explained. "Some things cannot be explained with science. This is one of them." He shrugged. "Moving on. V.V. leads an organization known as the Geass Directorate. Essentially, an order of assassins, spies, scientists, researchers, and so on. The spies and assassins are almost all equipped with Geass and intense training from the first day they can remember."

Which now seemed like a terrifying concept, as he realized that those children had, quite possibly, been abducted from their homes and had their memories rewritten to be loyal little weapons. "I was, obviously, one of those assassins. In matters related to Geass, the Directorate is the highest authority associated with Britannia. V.V. and the Emperor regard one another as equals from what I've observed." Which was enough, honestly. He was V.V.'s pet project up to a point. "Back to my earlier explanation..."

He shot a dull glance towards Rivalz, who looked somewhat sheepish for throwing them off topic yet again. "Geass has consequences. Mine already has the significant drawback of stopping my heart while in use, meaning that I'm quite restricted in how often I use it." Which was likely why Lelouch had tossed him incredulous glances while messing with the dice earlier. But something that took so little time wasn't too much trouble for him. Noticing the surprised looks on their faces at the rather dangerous side-effect, Rolo carried on before Rivalz could drive him off topic again. "Big brother's Geass can only be used on any person once. That is it's specific drawback. But now, ever since the day of the SAZ Massacre, big brother's Geass has been out of his control; it's permanently active."

Rolo noticed just how Nina stiffened at the mention of the massacre, likely in reference to the fact that that had been the day Euphemia was killed. "To make a long story short; big brother's Geass went out of control and he gave Euphemia a command that led to her trying to slaughter all of the Japanese. He was then forced to kill her to put a stop to the massacre, because his commands are absolute. There was no other way to stop her other than letting her wipe out an entire race, and honestly big brother would probably have preferred that if not for the fact that Euphemia would have killed herself afterwards."

The boy frowned deeply. "He talks with me, sometimes." It had only just begun, really, after he'd used his Geass to freeze Suzaku in place so he could speak with his sister. "Tries to teach me things he thinks I should know, tries to make me understand morality. I've been trained my entire life as a killer, and so my first solution was usually to kill someone. What I'm doing now is extremely difficult for me, because it's nothing like what I've been taught to do all my life." Trying to talk a situation out as opposed to just gutting someone wasn't his strong suit.

"But big brother actually cares for me enough to try and fix what my... conditioning broke." Rolo knew full well that his mind did not work like a normal persons; he viewed people in terms of usefulness and how easy it was to dispose of them more often than not. Lelouch was not happy with that mindset. "So he told me once about how much he regretted that day, hated himself for it. He despised how he'd used that accident to push his own agenda further, but he knew he had to do it or her death wouldn't mean anything... he was nearly in tears when he told me. It was vulnerability I hadn't expected him to show me."

Deep down, Rolo would admit that he thought Lelouch would just view him as a weapon to toss away when needed. But he buried that expectation underneath a naive hope that maybe this time things would be better, maybe he had a place in this world.

And that day, Lelouch had proven those hopes true. He knew how badly Rolo was broken, but he endeavored to try and fix it. His big brother had let him in out of the cold, so to speak, and opened up to the boy who had been poised to kill him if the situation had been different. "At any rate; Lelouch didn't mean to kill Euphemia, it was an accident. Believe me or not, I don't really care; you can ask big brother yourself when you see him next... but I will assure you, he loved Princess Euphemia far too much to try and hurt her."

Swallowing a lump in her throat, the green haired girl picked the discarded bow up and stood. Slowly, she slung the weapon onto her back and released a ragged, tired sigh. "I don't k-know what to th-think anymore..." She murmured despondently, shaking her head. "I... I need to talk with him." Nina decided after a moment. "I'll never be able to move past this if I can't talk with him." Lelouch was an old friend, a good friend. One of her only friends. He deserved the chance to make his case himself, to give his own side of the story. And perhaps he deserved forgiveness. But that was something to be decided once she spoke with him herself.

"Right. If we're gonna meet up with Lelouch and company, we'd best make tracks." Rivalz offered, glancing towards the sky. "We got here at a rather awkward time, honestly. It's nearing night and I don't fancy the idea of sleeping in a giant death-trap like this place." Wolves should not get that damn big, and he really did think he heard more howling from somewhere. "The nearest city is Prime, which is a bit of a jaunt that-a-way." He pointed east, towards the mountain range. "That range splits the Field of the Ancients from the next area over, Stormwield Savannah." Which was named for the myriad of electrically inclined wildlife in the area. Lightning spitting lions sounded awesome until he had to face the actual idea of fighting one. "And directly through the savannah is a moderately safe path that will lead into the swamplands Lelouch, Gino, and Anya were dropped off in."

The other two stared.

Rivalz laughed heartily. "You'd be surprised what you can glean from the flavor text while everyone is rolling their dice." Seriously. Each area had a nifty little excerpt on it's main features, as well as other little anecdotes written in small text on the board. He'd familiarized himself with them while everyone was busy with their area rolls. "Shall we be off?" The satyr asked jovially.

"You're taking these revelations rather well." Rolo noted curiously.

"Meh. Lelouch is my best pal, I need to at least give him the benefit of the doubt. He'd do the same for me." Rivalz trusted Lelouch quite a bit, honestly. Anything he'd done as Zero hadn't been done with purely malicious intention. One way or another, he had to speak with Lelouch himself before making any decisions. The guy hadn't wronged him personally, though he'd done some questionable things. "I'll talk it out with him once we meet up."

"I... see..." The assassin mumbled, reaching into a bag slung over his shoulder. "Well, according to the map you're right about Prime." He agreed after glancing briefly at the well-worn paper in his satchel. "Our best bet would be to make our way there and plan a path through Stormwield Savannah, before trying to locate big brother and the others in the Swamplands. Or, at least, try to pick up a trail there." There was no guarantee they would arrive in time to catch Lelouch and the Knights.

Nina sighed. "Let's go, then. I'm... really tired." She wanted to just go to sleep, wake up, and have this all have been a very weird dream... but she doubted her luck would be that good. It hardly ever was.

With that, the unlikely trio set off for the city of Prime, home of the Beastfolk.

* * *

"Damn it..." A snarl ripped past the throat of a brunette teen as he stood in the center of a ring of corpses. He was covered in gore from the disemboweled, decapitated, or otherwise maimed bodies surrounding him. "God damn it all!" The teen roared, stamping one foot on the ground furiously as he forced one of his twin blades into the throat of another shambling monstrosity, sending the head of the creature flying with a single motion.

Suzaku Kururugi was positively furious. Lelouch _did_ remember. He had to have turned the whole damn system serving as his prison into resources for his own gain. He had to have turned Rolo to his side somehow, perhaps with that accursed Geass of his. And he'd been playing them this whole damn time! He had even managed to disregard Nunnally, who he had used to try and force a reaction from him!

He had felt absolutely _filthy_ after doing that, and it hadn't brought any results! To use Nunnally, kind, sweet, caring Nunnally... using her like that against the brother she adored more than anything else made him sick, but he _had_ to do it. There was no easier way to test Lelouch than to use his little sister, and it _had_ to be done. If Lelouch remembered, if he was Zero again, he would need to be brought down again.

But Lelouch had ignored it. How had he done that? He could never lie directly to Nunnally like that, she was his greatest weakness. It didn't make sense, but neither did his current situation. He had suddenly found himself in the middle of a barren forest who's trees looked like the very life had been sucked out of them, trunks hardly as wide as him and not a leaf to be seen, and then been set upon by zombies of all things. Conveniently enough, he had weapons and a lot of frustration to vent

Another zombie stumbled it's way towards Suzaku, who growled lowly at the pest before slicing it from shoulder to groin. A spray of gore erupted from the unnatural beast as it fell to the ground. "Damn it, Lelouch!" He had to stop Zero before he could cause any more damage. He had to stop Lelouch. The boy who had once been his friend had done things that could never be forgiven, and he would make him pay.

This time, he wouldn't bring him before the Emperor and let him be placed in a gilded prison. No, this time he would put an end to things once and for all; if Lelouch was dead, so was Zero. The Black Knights were nothing without their leader; their military strength existed, but there was no one dangerous enough to give the Britannian military pause if Zero was out of the equation. Tohdoh and Xingke were the most dangerous men associated with them, and neither of those two would be enough to push back Britannia.

But Lelouch could. Miraculously, damnably, he could stand against the might of Britannia without fear, and oftentimes he could just _win._ Against odds that were impossibly stacked against him, he would find a way to come out victorious.

It drove Suzaku mad to see that kind of genius being used to throw the world into chaos instead of putting it to good use. But now, they were in Suzaku's element. This world... he imagined that Lelouch would have a much harder time without the troops he'd raised from a rag-tag band of terrorists. There would be no army between the two of them; he could get to the former prince easily.

Another furious slash tore yet another zombie to shreds, followed by another, and another, and yet another still. The Japanese teen continued a fluid dance of strikes, stabs, slashes, lunges, kicks, and leaps as he steadily decimated the seemingly endless horde of undead. One after another, the mindless corpses fell back to the ground, the foul energy mobilizing them being unable to force their damaged bodies to move any more.

One, who's flesh had rotted down to practically nothing, charged furiously at the teen, far faster than any of the others. Dark wisps of energy wafted off of it, leaving a trail as it rushed forward.

A metal clad foot impacted it's chin, ripping the head from it's decrepit neck and sending it flying as Suzaku flipped backwards, slicing another of the creatures midair and sending a second head off into the distance as the corpse fell back to the earth. By this point, the silver mail armor the teen wore was stained a gory red by the blood running down it, mixed with a foul black ichor of some sort. His blades, once a pure silvery white, were dyed the same sickening blood red. Hair matted down by more of the gore, Suzaku looked like something straight out of a horror movie himself as he culled the horde of zombies.

Another slash. Another kill. A well placed kick ruined the leg of one, setting it up for an execution. Gore sprayed into the air time and time again, yet still the beasts came.

But Suzaku was tireless. He continued to cut, stab, slice, twist, and dance fluidly through the beasts in with a rough, brutal grace. Each and every movement was designed to put an end to whatever it hit, no energy wasted from one step to the next. His fury drove him as he tore apart the horde surrounding him, taking his frustrations out upon the nearest target.

"Damn you, Lelouch... DAMN YOU!" He roared again. Why did Lelouch keep getting these breaks? Everything went his way! When he'd finally been neutralized, the threat of Zero finally removed... he'd simply come back again. And this time, he was more powerful by merit of having the previous experiences to learn from, not even taking into account the new pieces he'd acquired for his infernal gameboard.

Never again. Lelouch was getting no more chances. Suzaku was done giving him the chance to come back stronger than before. No, this time he was staying gone for good.

"I'll make sure of it, this time..." Suzaku growled to himself, darting forward and driving both blades into a large, bulky abomination. With both blades puncturing the obese zombie's large gut, the eyes of the Ascended Paladin began to emit an unearthly red glow, bordering on pink. A single motion later, he was several yards above the battle, having leaped from the ground into the sky with no apparent effort. He'd taken the large undead with him, leaving a moderate crater in the earth below.

Using the blades to draw himself upward, Suzaku gracefully flipped over the flailing zombie's head as it attempted to dislodge him. His blades exited the creature's stomach with a wet squelch as the two of them fell, gravity drawing them closer to the earth. Twisting in the air above the head of the monstrosity, Suzaku swung both blades and decapitated the giant before kicking the body at another group, knocking them on their backs.

And then he was on the ground again. The moment his feet were on solid earth, the slaughter began once more.

More and more corpses began to litter the ground, but Suzaku showed no signs of tiring as he continued to mow them down. A red tint could be seen surrounding the green of his eyes. "This time, Lelouch, I'll kill you myself!" The teen shouted to the wind, the sound easily drowning out the droning moans and grunts of the living dead... what few remained of them.

Minutes later, the teen who's appearance had been dyed almost universally red and black by the blood and gore of the slaughtered undead stood panting in the center of a giant circle of their unmoving corpses. His appearance was that of a human, though beneath the blood his skin was practically alabaster and his eyes glowed a brilliant green color. His armor was simple; mail armor with sturdy gauntlets and boots, easy to move in and offering ample protection. The teen hadn't been struck even a single time during the conflict, but if he had it would hardly have mattered. Twin blades were held loosely within his hands, each one around three feet long total.

Despite his panting, the teen seemed fully capable of continuing battle if need be. He was far from exhausted.

This was the sight that the dispatched Paladins of Lighthold arrived to. A large horde of undead had been detected by their Priests, and a group of six adept Paladins were sent to cull the herd, as it was only a group of simple zombies with one or two mutated undead in their ranks. These men and women had been chosen specifically for their ability to deal with the group efficiently and without any casualties; two of them were especially adept as healers in addition to their combat prowess, three were highly capable in combat to the point that they were counted as some of the best within the order, and the final Ascended of their group was a man of distinguished service with years upon years of combat experience over the other five.

For them, this was something of a day trip. There was no need for such a distinguished group to be sent, but they were in the area. It would have taken them mere minutes to handle this threat.

But by the time they had reached the site, the enemy had been slain by what appeared to be a teenager of their own race, who was covered in blood and gore not his own.

Surprised whispers sprung up within the group as they marveled over this oddity, before being silenced by the hand of their leader.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise." The man in charge noted, stepping toward the younger Ascended. "You've gone and killed off a whole army of these blasted monstrosities on your own; quite the feat, my boy. May I have the name of one so skilled?" While worded as a question, it was clear that the older man was not expecting silence or refusal.

Turning to regard the white haired man, Suzaku released a deep sigh. "My name is Suzaku Kururugi." If this was a whole new world, it stood to reason there would be people here. These folks appeared to be Ascended, like his current body. Universal among them was the pale skin and glowing eyes, though the intensity and color varied. He noted that the most intense glow came from the man at the front, the apparent leader if he had to guess.

The man was large; nearly seven feet Suzaku was certain, covered from head to toe in heavy plate armor. A white cloak trimmed with bright gold sat over his armor, though it was arranged in such a way that it was easy to remove should the need arise. At his back the man had a large warhammer, nearly as long as he was tall with a hammerhead that was larger than his skull by a fair margin. The fact that this man was confident enough to take such an unwieldy weapon into battle said something about either his skill or his ego.

He was clearly aged, as well. At least in his mid fifties, perhaps sixties. It was hard to tell for sure due to the armor. His face was wrinkled in such a way that it gave him the appearance of a friendly old man, stubbly beard and all, though the brightly shining eyes and well-worn demeanor clashed with such an image. A warrior of that age with the ability to carry such heavy weaponry and armor into battle was likely someone of note, especially considering the respect he seemed to garner from the other five who were gathered in a loose battle formation behind him.

"An interesting name, my boy. I find it quite peculiar that I've never heard of your exploits if you're capable of such feats." He gestured to the veritable mountain of rotting carcasses. "Facing such odds alone... in truth, not even I would relish such a prospect." Despite this, it seemed to be an unspoken truth that the man _could_ readily handle these odds if he had to, it just wasn't something he particularly wanted to do. "Which is, as you likely could guess, why we tend to send squads of at least six to handle such things." More than six, usually. Their group was just a cut above the others. "Bah, I ramble. Either way, I ask you tell us where you've come from?"

Suzaku shrugged lightly, sheathing his blades. "I don't really know what to tell you. I woke up a few minutes ago in the middle of this place, and suddenly these creatures were coming after me. I had no choice but to fend them off." Left unsaid was the fact that he had been happy to do so, as it gave him a wonderful outlet for his anger. "As a matter of fact, I know very little about what is going on around me. Could I have your name as well?"

Ignoring the shocked looks this drew from the five underlings, the older man shook with a booming laugh. "Ah, my manners, where have I put them? Apologies, my boy. My name is Daven, Daven Arroway. I must admit, that you don't know me on first glance does confirm that you have little knowledge of your area; I've been led to believe I'm of some note around these parts." Despite the fact that his face wasn't recognized by the teen, he seemed unconcerned. "You simply woke here, then? No memories leading up to it?"

Shaking his head, the teen replied. "One moment I was home, and now I'm here. My memories are somewhat foggy." He most certainly wasn't going to explain to these people that he came from another world. That couldn't end well in any way.

Gaze softening somewhat at the younger boy, Daven spoke again. "I see. If that is the case, perhaps you would like to accompany us to Lighthold? It is the nearest city, and you would be among friends." Anyone who could strike down so many undead without a single injury would be welcome with them, especially one of their own race. Of course he would need some sort of supervision for simple safety reasons, as his story was peculiar, but the senior Paladin was happy to serve that role himself if only for the novelty of such a bizarre situation.

"That would be... good. Yeah, that would be great actually. I don't really know where to go from here." Suzaku replied honestly, glad to see people genuinely willing to help others so early in his foray into this new world. "I could also really use a bath." He joked lightly, earning a hearty chuckle from the older man.

"Surely, my boy! You'll begin to notice the stench any minute now once the thrill of battle has worn off." Daven replied, waving a gauntlet clad hand in front of him in a warding gesture. "Best hurry back before you wake the dead again with that smell."

An uncomfortable frown found it's way to the teen's face. "Will it really do that?" He asked, concerned that traveling with these folks would put them in danger.

"Not really, no. I was just messing with you, my boy." The old Paladin retorted with a smirk, turning back to his troops as the smirk widened into a cheerful grin. "Well, come on then! Let's get our sorry asses back to the Hold for a good old fashioned celebration! Hurray for not having to actually do our jobs, am I right!?" Laughing boisterously, the man began to walk back towards the mountain-city of Lighthold, expecting his people to fall into step behind him. "Keep your eyes peeled and arms ready, though. We aren't out of these woods yet."

Falling in with the other five Paladins, two women and three men, Suzaku couldn't help but feel uncomfortable because of their gazes... until one of them started to snicker.

"Damn, you smell awful. That bath is a top priority when we get back; I'll show you a good place." One of the men offered with a grin, moving to pat him on the back before visibly thinking better of it. "Name's Port."

The man was a blonde with light brown eyes, which glowed slightly in a vaguely golden hue, sporting a faint scar that spanned from one cheek to the other, just below his eyes. It appeared to be a single slash that had come quite close to hitting the eyes themselves, though luck or skill had prevented such. His hair was somewhat short and slightly spiky, and he seemed quite jovial. His own armor was much like that of the older man, though less decorative and lacking the cloak. It was, more or less, the standard garb one would expect from a knight. At his back was a greatsword, noticeably less weighty than the enormous warhammer wielded by Daven.

"Ignore Port's rambling." One of the women cut in, a redhead with a sword and fairly small kite shield. She had a stern look to her, with her hair held in a tight bun and a pair of dark eyes. "You did a good job on those monstrosities; a bit of stink isn't something to fret over after a victory like that."

"Pfft. C'mon, Carla. You and I both know he smells like a rancid corpse; which is perfectly reasonable considering he's covered in the guts and blood of said rancid corpses." Port shot back. "I can certainly agree that less zombies roaming the woods is a good thing, but that doesn't mean you have to suffocate others with the scent of your victory."

"Oh yeah." Another man cut in, this one wielding a flail and tower shield half as large as him. Taking a deep sniff of the air, he nearly gagged. "Yep... smells like victory to me... seriously, though. Bath. You. Asap." Pinching his nose and turning green, the man tried not to gag. He had dark hair, not quite black but close to it, and a pair of blue eyes. His facial features were soft, somewhat feminine, though his mannerisms most certainly were not.

The other two, a blonde woman with long flowing hair and another older man who's hair had begun to gray, remained silent though they were clearly listening to the conversation judging by the smirks on their lips.

Hearing the banter between these soldiers put a smile on Suzaku's face. For the moment, he would go along with these people to gather his wits and his resources; but then, he would begin his hunt.

No matter what happened, Suzaku would not allow Zero to remain a threat.

* * *

'Well.' Milly thought to herself blandly, looking down at the fairly compromising situation she had awoken to. 'This is one interesting way to wake up.' She had been sleeping rather peacefully up until a presence had made itself known by squeezing her breast. Waking up suddenly to that, she blinked at the head of orange hair that filled her view immediately.

Somehow, Shirley had fallen asleep on top of her. And moreover, the girl was quite handsy in her sleep. More likely than not she was used to cuddling with her pillows... and Milly's own "pillows" made an adequate substitute.

Honestly, the blonde was considering just leaving things be until Shirley woke up on her own; that would be hilarious. However, other things started to occur to her that spurred her decision on.

They were in a forest. That didn't make sense, considering the fact that they had been indoors not too long ago. It was cool outside as well; also unusual as the temperature in the Tokyo Settlement was quite pleasant this time of year. And last but not least, she spotted something rather out of place with Shirley.

Her ears. They were long and pointed. Not to the point where it was ridiculous, but they were certainly outside of the realm of humans. They looked elven.

Blinking as the other girl nuzzled deeper into her chest, also giving another soft squeeze to the breast she was holding, Milly found herself giggling. 'Oh I can just imagine how Gino or Rivalz would react to this.' She thought to herself deviously, fully intending to hold this event against Shirley in the future. But, for the moment they really did need to figure out just what was going on. "Ooooh...~" Milly moaned loudly. "Shirley you naughty girl...~"

This caught the other girl's attention, bleary green eyes peering up into Milly's mischievous blue. Slowly, the orangette realized just where her head, and more importantly her hands, had found a place to rest.

"I-I-I'm SO s-so-sorry!" Shirley stuttered out as she dashed backwards in a crawl, mortified as she realized that she had been feeling Milly up in her sleep. She'd woken up with more than a healthy handful of her breast between her fingers.

Milly shrugged. "I didn't really mind it." She replied easily. "But, y'know, I should at least get free reign to grope yours if you're going to have a field day with mine."

A deeper crimson stained the redhead's cheeks as she stammered out something incomprehensible in response. Milly couldn't help but find it adorable, especially considering the girl had yet to notice the rather bizarre situation surrounding them. She was too busy freaking out over how embarrassed she was.

Though she did seem to realize it after a few more moments.

"... Milly?" Shirley questioned softly. "Where are we right now?" They were in a forest? That didn't make any sense. "W-wait! What in the world are you wearing? And your ears! They're... they're long and pointy?"

Oh, the girl catches on quick. Rolling her eyes, Milly shrugged before standing up. "Well, truthfully I don't know what I'm wearing because I was too busy enjoying myself before you woke up; I've also yet to see my ears for that same reason. You, on the other hand, I got quite the eyeful of; you're in this really pretty robe and have a pair of ears just as pointy as mine, I'm sure. You've also got some skill with those hands of yours." She gave an impish smile to the other girl as she moved from her sitting position to stand.

It was returned with a petulant glare. "I was asleep. Don't judge me." She pouted, before inspecting Milly more closely.

The blonde looked like some kind of swashbuckler. Her shirt was like the kind you would see in a pirate movie, white with poofy sleeves and a noticeable v-neck with laces holding it closed. Despite the laces, it revealed a fair amount of her cleavage. Something told Shirley that Milly would approve, though.

The sleeves of the shirt were held tight at her forearm by a pair of leather bracers, and over the shirt she wore a fairly plain black waistcoat with silver buttons. It was left completely unbuttoned at the moment. She also had a pair of plain cloth pants in a dark red color, with high black leather boots that had laces running up the front holding them tight.

At her hip was a sheathed sword. The sheath was curved somewhat, and Shirley was fairly certain the blade was some sort of sabre, especially considering the apparent handguard she could see.

So all in all, yes. Milly looked like she was dressed up to go to some sort of renaissance fair. On top of that, her ears were pointy. Like an elf.

"So not only did you feel me up, now you're ogling me. I don't particularly mind it, like I said, but I really feel like I should get something out of this too. How 'bout you stand up do a little twirl for me?" Milly snickered at the rather potent glare this drew from the other girl, but did not relent. "No, seriously, I wanna see the robe. Also you have a staff or something stuck in the ground like two feet behind you. I think it's yours."

Turning to note that there was, in fact, a staff settled in the earth behind her, Shirley sighed and stood up. Grabbing the wooden staff, she pulled it free of the soft earth without much issue before inspecting it.

It probably was hers, Shirley noticed. It was carved with the same kind of leafy-vine engravings that she had come to associate with the Wood Elf race she had chosen, and the head of the staff seemed to be an intricately carved rose. As a matter of fact, the entire staff appeared to be carved from a single piece of wood. The rose at the head was painted a pure white color, contrasting with the dark brown of the wood itself. She wasn't actually sure if that was paint, though. It seemed too natural for that. The bottom end, which had been stabbed into the ground, was actually pointed. It curved somewhat in the shape of a thorn, as well.

"C'mon and do a twirl for me already, Shirley." Milly goaded her on. "Seriously, I wanna see your robe. It's all flowery and stuff." Shirley's garb was fairly intricate, with flowered and leafy vines circling all about it. It was a deep shade of green, with darker greens, nearing black, for the patterned vines circling across her body. The sleeves were long and loose; they nearly covered her hands naturally, and it wouldn't be difficult for the girl to hide her hands entirely inside of them. It fell down to just above the girl's ankles.

Another sigh came from the orangette as she relented, turning around to show the back of the robe to Milly. It was much the same as the front, though one thicker vine pattern seemed to run down the spine before splitting in separate directions at the waist and circling to meet at the front. All in all, Milly honestly thought the Wood Elf girl looked more like a Druid than a Priest, but that was just how the racial weapons and armor went. Her own was more generalized stuff; she had no intention of prancing around in snooty looking High Elf gear back when this was just a game, and that translated especially well into the current reality.

"So yeah. I'm fairly certain we're inside of the board game I brought." Milly announced matter-of-factly, surprising Shirley with both the announcement and the bluntness in her tone.

Shirley wanted to be skeptical about that, but at the same time she was currently in the body of a Wood Elf with pointy ears and all, holding a staff, and dressed in a flowery robe. Altogether, this was not a normal day for her. "I want to say that's ridiculous, because it is, but at the same time I think you're right." The orangette admitted glumly. "How did this happen?"

Shrugging, Milly replied. "Well, Lelouch put that card on the board and then suddenly BAM! We're here..." The blonde blinked as, at the mention of Lelouch, she began to remember things. Eyes widening as memories locked away began to flow back into her head all of a sudden, the girl gave a concerned glance to Shirley, hoping that the same wasn't true for her.

Unfortunately for the Ashford heiress, her luck was not nearly so good. "L-Lulu..." Shirley mumbled, falling to her knees and dropping the staff to the ground. Tears began to gather in her eyes as she clasped her hands over her face. Oh God, she could remember everything, all of it... in such clear, vivid detail.

* * *

 _Kneeling on the stairway, tears streaming down her cheeks, Shirley leaned limply into the arms of her father's murderer. "Lulu... I really did kill someone." She whimpered._

 _"It's because of me; it's not your fault." He assured her._

 _"And I shot you, with your gun..."_

 _"I'm still alive." His tone was soft, reassuring as he held her close._

 _"But I did it!" She shouted, holding on tighter to him._

 _"Shirley, any sin you committed is mine to bear." His voice remained steady even though she could hear small cracks._

 _She continued to cry. "I wanted you to be kind to me." The girl admitted._

 _His voice remained soft, consoling. "What's wrong with that?"_

 _"Even though my father died..." Moments before she could break down into sobs again, she found herself staring into a pair of heartbroken amethyst orbs._

 _"Don't worry." He said, those sad eyes filling up with determination. "It's time to forget all of the bad things that have happened to you."_

 _Hearing that, she shook her head furiously, averting her eyes. "I can't!" She shouted. How could he expect her to forget all of this? That didn't make sense._

 _"Yes, you can!" He announced firmly, with the kind of assurance that came from someone who knew something beyond the shadow of a doubt. "I'll help you forget all of this."_

 _Looking back towards his eyes, she squeaked "Impossible..." It just wasn't something she would ever forget; these events were ingrained in her mind more firmly than anything else. And yet, his eyes remained locked on her own, the sadness and regret and determination all swimming just below the surface._

 _"Shirley, I'm sorry about your father." His tone was heartfelt and dripping with remorse, he knew just how badly he had hurt her. Knew nothing he could do would change that. "If I could be reborn into a new life, I would..." His left eye lit up, the crest of a stylized bird in flight appearing suddenly._

 _That symbol, that power... no. The realization hit her too late. "Lulu..." Her eyes went wide, alarm tearing her from her stupor. "No, don't!" She cried..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _It was dark, Shirley noted as she stood before a memorial erected for those who had passed in the landslide. She couldn't recall, at the time, why she was here. Her father had died, yes. But... how had she gotten there? She couldn't recall. It was dark outside. How long had she been here?_

 _She had probably just wandered there in a stupor; it happened from time to time. She was sort of airheaded at times. A tiny smile came to her lips as she made fun of herself, before she turned and made to leave for home. She made it a few steps before noticing another person, a dark haired boy around her age, standing in the center of the path._

 _Blinking, she considered whether or not to say anything. He was a stranger in the middle of the night, but at the same time he was visiting the memorial, and the expression on his face seemed so sad and... lost. In the end, she decided to take a moment to try and cheer him up, assuming he was another person who had lost someone in the landslide. "Oh, hello." She greeted. "Did you lose someone in your family too?" In many ways, the question felt a bit too personal to ask upfront. But if they had both lost someone, it seemed more reasonable._

 _He seemed shocked for just a moment, looking at her with a palpable sadness. "No... not someone from my family." He replied. "It was... a friend. Someone... well... very important to me."_

 _Shirley couldn't help but offer a consoling smile. "I understand." She said softly._

 _"But I didn't know..." He started, pausing briefly as though he didn't know what words to use. "I didn't know until after I lost her." He admitted painfully. "Then I realized how much she meant to me... how her smile saved me... and how I'll never be able to argue or laugh with her again."_

 _"I see... you loved her, didn't you?" Shirley found herself speaking before she could think it through. "You must feel terrible." Saying something like that, in this situation... she felt rather bad for it. It had just slipped out._

 _After a moment, the boy turned away from her before making his reply. "Right now... I don't... know anymore." He admitted slowly, unsure. As if his world had come crashing down around him._

 _Just seeing this, hearing the hurt and loneliness in his voice... well, it made Shirley want to cheer him up. "Well, the morning always comes again."_

 _"What?" He asked in bemusement, turning again to regard her._

 _Smiling brighter to him, she continued. "I have to say, it's funny... I know I came out here for some reason, but I can't remember exactly what it was now." Again, she didn't know just why she was here; visiting the monument in the middle of the night was just peculiar to her, if she came to visit it likely would have been much earlier... normally. But here she was. "Maybe it's because I've already put the whole thing behind me; something I wanted to let go of." Yes, losing her father had hurt, it still did... but she had to move on. "Maybe it was something I thought I couldn't forget, maybe I was full of sadness..." She paused briefly. "But morning still comes, right? That's why you shouldn't try to hold back your thoughts like that." In the end, trying to take it all on yourself would do nothing but make you sadder._

 _She noticed a sort of wan smile come to his lips, as if he wasn't happy, but he was thankful for the attempt. His eyes were downcast, and truthfully they seemed a bit darker than they had been before._

 _"Yes... you're right." He admitted tiredly, inclining his head forward to look at the ground, as though he couldn't bear to face her anymore. "I... feel the same way now. Thanks a lot." Shooting her one last glance, he turned to walk away with a few final words. "For everything."_

 _And without another sound save those of his footsteps, the boy began to walk away. Seeing his retreating back, Shirley realized she had never seen a more lonely sight; retreating off into the night, downtrodden, was a boy her own age who had lost someone just as important to him as her father was to her. It was a profound, heart wrenching scene and she couldn't bring herself to look away for even a moment until his figure disappeared into the dark._

* * *

"Oh God..." Tears streamed from her eyes as she remembered everything. That meeting in the night with a boy she thought she hadn't known, it made the scene even worse because she _knew_ what had caused it. He had stolen her memories; locked them away so she could live without the heartache of her sins weighing her down. He had hurt himself to protect her, but she had never wanted that. He'd shouldered her sins for her, allowed her to return to her peaceful life... but in doing so, he had isolated himself even further.

A pair of arms found their way around her shoulders, enveloping her in a warm, soft presence. "Shhh... it's alright, Shirley. I... I know there isn't much I can say to help, but just... let me do what I can, alright?" A soothing voice whispered. "We'll get through this, no matter what. Okay?"

Milly... she was a pervert, she was bossy and oftentimes lazy, her harebrained schemes and plans were always causing trouble, and she would never be what one would consider responsible...

But Shirley knew, she had always known, that Milly cared for each and every one of her friends enough that she could throw all of her quirks out the window in a heartbeat for their sake. Gone was the frantic loony that headed their council; replaced by a woman who's maturity and grace could be legendary if it were known to more than a few. In moments like these, these rare moments that no one could ever wish to experience, Milly allowed a whole different side of her to the forefront. Rather than the devil Lelouch often claimed her to be, Milly was closer to an angel at times like this.

She was still a teenager herself, and it was obvious in her uncertainty. But at the same time, Shirley found herself melting into the embrace. "... t-thank you." The orangette whimpered, snuggling closer into the warmth and comfort the older girl provided, letting the sensation wash over her. Milly would make a fantastic parent, she couldn't help but think.

"It's no problem, Shirley. Stay like this as long as you need to. I'm here for you." Milly assured her, resting her chin on the other girl's head and holding her tightly. "I always will be."

Allowing the younger girl to bask in the comfort of her embrace, Milly frowned gently and began to think to herself. 'Well, I suppose that explains a lot.' She had always wondered in the back of her head why Zero was so successful; where had a genius of that caliber come from? Why was he able to outwit the military at practically every turn? How did he seem to know Britannia so well? What was motivating him? How did he inspire such confidence in his troops, those same men and women who had been unable to so much as dent Britannia's walls mere months before?

And now that she was aware of the man behind the mask, it all made sense. Perhaps not in the logical sense; but, rather, she knew that if it was Lelouch then anything was within his reach. He was practically a force of nature when driven, and it was clear that something was driving him in this endeavor. Something more than the desire for revenge, because that would only take him so far.

Knowing him as well as she did, Milly could easily make a guess at what had spurred him to this decision. Nunnally. He didn't believe that their world was one that was worthy of her, he'd confided that in her more than once. So, then, why not simply change it?

Zero was working to change the world, and in the process he was making an enemy of the entire world. That was why Lelouch had always seemed to have a weight on his shoulders after that day he had gotten separated from Rivalz. That was why the death of Joseph Fenette had hurt him so much, he had been the cause.

And oh God, the thought of how he must have felt after the SAZ Massacre. She couldn't even imagine. There was no way he had killed her willingly, not Euphemia. He'd loved her nearly as much as Nunnally, there was simply no way he could do that to his half-sister. Further, she didn't believe for a second that the silly, naive, hopeful Euphemia li Britannia had snapped and tried to commit genocide like that.

And when Nunnally had become Viceroy, that must have messed him up as well; to be fighting against his beloved little sister? He had enemies everywhere, even among his closest friends. Suzaku, Nina, Shirley, all of them had been hurt by Zero and his fight. His sister, Cornelia, would never forgive him for killing Euphemia. He'd murdered Clovis, who had been so close to him as a child.

Willingly or not, Lelouch had cut ties with his family by this point. His friends were still his friends, but that was before memories returned... she didn't know how Shirley would react. Milly was genuinely scared to find out.

But, for now, Shirley needed her to be her rock. So Milly would weather this storm, and she would see what came next. Until then, she would let this troubled girl forget all of her problems for a little while, until the freshly opened wounds returned to the dull scars they were meant to be.

* * *

"So are we going to explain to Gino now why he's been left out of this heartfelt, touching, and incredibly out of place moment?" The blonde Monk asked as he regarded the bizarre sight of an armor clad Anya snuggled into the side of a blue skinned Lelouch, both seated against the rock the elf had leaned her against earlier. "Seriously! When the heck did this become a thing that happened?" Anya was cuddling with Lelouch. That was the weirdest part of this, which was saying something considering how messed up their situation was right now.

Proving that the dull facade had not been entirely unnatural, Anya shot him a dry look. "... you're ruining the moment." She muttered.

"What is the moment!?" Gino shot back in confusion. "You two didn't even interact for more than like five or ten seconds a day, and now you're basically attached to his hip. I don't get it." He threw his hands up in the air in exasperation, pacing around the little clearing they'd found themselves in.

Sighing, Lelouch stepped in to explain. "Sorry, Gino. This may be odd to you, but Anya and I have history with one another." That felt like something of an understatement, but it wasn't inaccurate.

"..." Gino offered a bland look to the white haired teen. " _How?_ " He asked, thrown for a loop. Anya was like sixteen. She had been in the military or being groomed for military service for nearly half of her life, the half that came after her years in the Aries Villa as a student in etiquette under Marianne vi Britannia. There was no reasonable place in her life for Lelouch Lamperouge to have met her.

... wait. Lamperouge? Why did that seem so familiar all of a sudden? He never really noticed before, but now that it crossed his mind that felt like a name he should know. Ah, wait, it was the maiden name of Marianne the Flash. She was a commoner and a soldier before being the Empress. That explained it.

Oh. Hold on. Wait a second. Nunnally vi Britannia was the daughter of Marianne vi Britannia who was originally Marianne Lamperouge, and Nunnally vi Britannia had a brother. Lelouch... Vi... Britannia.

Lelouch... Lamperouge.

"... you have got to be fucking kidding me." Gino deadpanned, jaw dropping. "You're Lelouch vi Britannia, aren't you? You're the Viceroy's brother!" Holy shit was this real? This was real wasn't it? Oh goddamn it the fucking Ashfords were Marianne vi Britannia's biggest supporters in the nobility, weren't they? How the fuck did no one notice this until now!? Good lord, that was ridiculous!

"Yes, that's me." Lelouch replied with a smirk. "Pleased to meet you, Lord Weinberg." He wasn't fond of having his identity given away like that, but Gino was going to ask questions one way or another and this was infinitely easier than dealing with him snooping on his own. At least this way he would be seen as cooperative rather than secretive.

At his side, Anya giggled at the flabbergasted expression on Gino's face. She was enjoying this immensely, not just because Gino was flipping out over the revelation but more so because she could actually _enjoy_ it. Pathetic as it may seem, this was easily the closest she had ever come to paradise since Lady Marianne had been gunned down. Sitting in a clearing in the middle of a swamp in the company of a terrorist and a soldier should not rank so highly on one's list of happy events, but her life had never been normal had it?

"... I'm still honestly somewhat creeped out by the fact that Anya is acting like a normal sixteen year old girl." A sixteen year old girl with a crush on Lelouch, for that matter. "Where did this come from? Is that why you're suddenly revealing your identity too?" Gino asked, ignoring the rather petulant glare that his first statement earned him from the girl in question.

Raising one hand to pat the sulking girl on the head, calming her immediately much to his exasperated amusement, Lelouch replied. "Yes, it seems as though we've suddenly regained memories that were stolen from us long ago. Anya also seems to have shed the condition ailing her emotions." The girl had felt him try to move his hand from her head, and now both of her hands were pinning his to her scalp, her glare now focused on him. Sighing, the teen rolled his eyes but continued to pet the girl's hair, drawing a pleased purr from her as she closed her eyes and let her hands rest in her lap once more. "Since when did you get so spoiled?" He jibed lightly.

"The most affection I've received for the last eight years has been from Gino giving me random bear hugs." Anya explained in a deadpan tone, opening one ruby eye to peer at him. "At this point I don't care if you think I'm spoiled; actually, I _want_ you to spoil me. It's been ages since I've been pampered properly."

As a matter of fact, she was considering trying to find a hairbrush so she could talk him into brushing her hair again. She'd done it herself for several years, because she didn't care enough to ask anyone as she wouldn't really derive any pleasure from it, but now she really wanted to just let Lelouch brush her hair again just like he'd done for her and Nunnally so long ago.

She had always loved those quiet mornings where she and Nunna had been seated next to one another in front of a mirror, with the warm smile of their own prince charming staring back at them from the reflection as he ran the brush through their hair one at a time.

He would even alternate between who got to go first from day to day; just so she never felt like he really preferred Nunna over her. She knew he did, he had to have, but it was a kind gesture nonetheless.

"... Well." Lelouch mumbled with a quirked brow. "I honestly didn't expect that response." Good grief. She was almost exactly like she used to be, with exception to the fact that she had shed the shyness that had stayed with her all throughout her stay at the Villa. He'd known full well what thoughts ran through her head from time to time, but she'd never been so blunt as to just up and say them like she just did. It was different, but at the same time it felt like a natural change as opposed to the artificial farce that had been her personality previously.

"And here I thought she appreciated the bear hugs." Gino pouted. "I see how it is; Lelouch is just prettier than me, that's it isn't it?"

Tilting her head in thought for a moment, Anya offered a bright smile. "Yep!" She chirped, cuddling even further into the side of the white haired teen.

"... I resent that remark." Lelouch added, still petting Anya's hair. As he was still indulging her, the pinkette didn't bother to respond since she was off in her own little world.

Gino laughed loudly. "Man, I'm really glad this happened. As weird as this shit is, it's genuinely worth it just to see _Anya_ of all people has your wrapped around her finger." He'd seen just how doting and affectionate Lelouch was with his little brother, and it was something else honestly. He'd never really seen two siblings get along so well. But this was something entirely different no matter how similar it was... hold on. Uh. Siblings. Right... "... Hey Lelouch?"

"Yes?" Lelouch asked, as though he knew exactly what was about to be asked and was amused it had taken so long for him to notice.

"So, uhm... if you're Lelouch vi Britannia, that makes the Viceroy, Nunnally vi Britannia, your sister. Right?" He asked slowly, as the absurdity of the situation sunk in to him.

Nodding with a smirk, Lelouch replied. "Yes, that's what happens when two people share a mother and father."

Ignoring Anya's giggle at the facetious confirmation, Gino continued. "Which means that you are one of the two children of Marianne vi Britannia. Also true, yes?"

"Indeed." The exiled prince confirmed.

"So then who the hell is Rolo?" Gino asked.

"My Knight." Lelouch lied seamlessly. "Of a sort, anyway. While my sister was found and reinstated as royalty, I am still effectively in exile you know." He had actually given up his claim to the throne; that was a declaration made by a prince before the Emperor himself, so really he wasn't royalty anymore.

"... okay." Gino nodded slowly. "So your sister is royalty, but you're not. Is this just because they didn't find you yet or is there more to it?" That didn't make any sense to the Knight of Three. From what he was aware of, the Viceroy was intent on locating her brother again. Again meaning that there had been a point where they were together, which made sense since they had been sent to Japan together. So, how had they found Nunnally but not her brother? Did he not _want_ to be found? That seemed like the only way.

Shrugging, Lelouch let slip a secret that had, unbeknownst to him, been erased from the minds of the gathered aristocracy the very day it had come into being. "I renounced my claim to the throne years ago in front of the Emperor and a hall full of the higher class of Britannia." So, really, he couldn't even have a legitimate Knight as he wasn't technically royalty. But, still. "So, really, even if I was found I wouldn't be a prince anymore."

"Don't care." Anya mumbled into his side. "Still my prince." She announced matter-of-factly.

Quirking a brow, Lelouch replied. "Well, there you have it." He said to Gino with a bemused look.

"Right." Gino said, pausing after that to gather his thoughts. "So. Rolo, the kid you've been doting on like he's been your little brother your whole life, is actually just some random kid you're keeping around. You called him your Knight, so I guess he's actually more dangerous than he looks." Kind of like Anya, who despite not looking like much was an absolute menace in a Knightmare frame and a crack shot with pretty much any firearm you could give her. "But seriously. You just picked up a kid one day?"

"We met around a year ago." Lelouch admitted truthfully. "He was lost and alone, and Nunnally had just been taken back to the Royal Family. It was best for her, I admit, as she deserved to lead a peaceful life." Which he was still going to provide for her, as the gilded cage she was trapped in right now was not the peaceful world she deserved to live in. "But it still left me rather lonely. I took Rolo in and he's been masquerading as my brother ever since. The Student Council members are all fully aware that he isn't my brother." Or so he assumed. At this point it was clear that any and all Geass effects upon the participants of this "game" had been removed.

Which, at the very least, meant that damnable "Live" command he'd given to Suzaku was finally gone. Thank goodness for that. As if the teen really needed such an unpredictable and powerful final resort.

On the other hand, this meant that Shirley would remember. Everything. He was genuinely terrified at what that would mean because he wasn't there to keep her from doing anything rash.

But Milly was, thankfully. Very rarely did he put his faith in Milly, but on matters as important as this she was as dependable as the rising of the sun each day.

"... wow." Gino muttered in shock. "I would never have guessed that kid wasn't related to you by blood. He reminds me of you way too much." They didn't look the same, really, but there were enough similarities that he would assume the two to be related even at first glance. As a matter of fact, the kid pretty closely resembled Nunnally vi Britannia. He looked kind of like a male version of the princess. "So... right. You're a prince, you actually renounced your claim to the throne so in reality you're _not_ royalty whereas your sister is."

Seeing the nod, he continued. "On top of that, when your little sister was found around a year ago you didn't go with her for your own reasons, probably because you renounced your claim to the throne for a reason. You then managed to find Rolo somehow, and for whatever reason he's basically latched onto you like you're his only lifeline. The council knows about this, and so I guess they also know you're a... well, formerly a prince?" A second nod, accompanied by a smirk.

"Right... dude, what the hell is up with your life? It's weird as hell. And now we're in a damn boardgame!" This was too much. Way too much information. He was getting close to the point of just not giving a fuck anymore.

But! There was one, just one, single question left that he needed answered. "Alright. Last thing before I just stop asking questions." Seeing the quirked eyebrow and taking that as a sign to proceed, Gino did so. "You mentioned your memories were stolen, and you talked about Anya's memory issue like you knew what caused it; explain this, and then I will not bother with any other answers because I just don't want to know anymore."

Lelouch sighed, glancing down at Anya. The girl was still contentedly cuddling up to his side as though she hadn't a care in the world, so he decided to just go for it. "My father is... not a particularly kind man." Gino snorted at that. "And on top of that, he has a dangerous power known as Geass." Seeing the confused look on the Knight's face and noting the flinch this drew from Anya, who tried to press closer to his side as though seeking comfort, Lelouch explained further while continuing to rub the younger girl's hair. "Geass is something that doesn't adhere to the explanations of science; as a matter of fact, it's closer to magic than anything. Believe it or not, the Emperor has the power to manipulate memories; removing those that he wants gone, replacing them with falsehoods that seem to real to be anything but the truth."

"... he can..." Gino paused. "No, no, continue. Just... go on." He didn't want to get into it. Hell, he actually believed this shit too; it wasn't any weirder than the situation they were in at the moment.

Snorting at the blonde's apparent surrender, Lelouch continued. "As you can likely guess, this power was used on myself and Anya. As a matter of fact, it was also used on Nunnally." He was only partially successful at keeping the snarl out of his voice, something that Gino noticed but did not comment on. "For myself and my sister, the manipulation was simple; our memories of being close to Anya were replaced with a distant acquaintance. In reality, she was a daily part of our lives as opposed to the distant figure our memories painted."

"... but... why?" The Knight of Three couldn't keep himself from asking. "I don't see how that was necessary at all." What sense did that make? He made his kids forget Anya? What was the point?

A shrug from the elven boy. "I've no idea. Even now, I couldn't imagine why he did that." He wasn't lying at all; the fact that he and Nunnally had been forced to forget Anya was obvious, but why it was done? He had no clue. Lelouch blinked as he felt motion at his side, a pair of ruby eyes glancing up at him with the beginnings of tears. "... Anya? Are you alright?"

"I know why." She replied simply. "He wanted the two of you not to know me well enough to care if I was or wasn't around. No one was supposed to care." Gino was the first person to just not give a damn and stick around, and since he was one of her colleagues as a Knight of the Round he'd been allowed to just do as he pleased. "I was supposed to be able to come and go without much notice, since no one would be close enough to care." They were obviously confused by that, as they didn't see why it was supposed to be that way. "My mind wasn't just mine; there was someone else inside my head, and they could take control whenever they wanted to. That was their Geass."

"What!?" Gino shouted, eyes shooting wide open. "Then, then... all of those times you just disappeared at random?" Times which only he ever really seemed to notice, as no one else really gave a damn about whatever Anya was doing if it didn't involve them directly.

"She took control from me." Anya admitted quietly. "Most of the time it was for meetings with the Emperor..." She shivered. Conversations that were not between her and the Emperor despite her voice being used on one side of the talks, gestures and movements that weren't her own despite her body making them. Topics that terrified her just at the concept, secrets she had learned without knowing. "I-I wasn't ever really "me", I was just the body that "she" was using." It terrified Anya that there was someone else in her head, and even more that the person in her head was using her body as they pleased. "That was why he wanted me as separate from other people as possible... Anya Alstreim didn't matter to him. I was just a container for someone else's mind." She had been a tool.

Lelouch held her tighter, surprising her slightly. "You were always your own person." He assured her. "Even beneath that apathetic expression, there was always something there. Someone was in control. That was you." Anya may have been a very muted person, but she did have preferences, she had opinions, she had interests. In truth, he was beginning to get a vague idea of just who had been making use of Anya's body. He wasn't sure he liked the implications. "Do you know who it was, Anya?" He asked softly.

She nodded. "... d-don't make me tell you. Please." Anya didn't want to know how Lelouch would react to the knowledge that his _mother_ had been using her body to continue living in a sense. Especially since she wasn't there anymore. The girl didn't know what had caused her emotions and memories to be freed, but she did know one thing for certain; at that moment, her body was her own and no one else was in her head. Lady Marianne's presence was nowhere to be found.

Nodding slowly, the teen sighed. "I think I can guess, then." The girl flinched again, but he simply continued to hold her. "It's not something you need to worry about, Anya." Good lord, his life was incredibly messed up sometimes. It was his mother's mind that had invaded Anya's body, and her meetings with the Emperor were not a good sign either. However, he now had to wonder; if Anya was freed of the effects of Geass, just where had the consciousness of Marianne vi Britannia gone to?

"... do I even want to know?" Gino asked lamely. He was so done with this shit.

Shaking his head, Lelouch replied. "No, Gino, I don't think you do." It didn't matter. His mother had been long dead, and it wasn't as though Anya could be blamed for this. The realization that her consciousness was active in the body of Anya meant nothing except that Geass could do far more than he'd originally believed.

Though it also brought up a rather concerning question; did Anya know he was Zero? She could clearly recall the conversations held by the Emperor and his mother, and surely at least one of those had involved him and his alter-ego in some way. He hoped not, but there really was just about no chance of that. Thankfully, she seemed to be remaining silent on the matter for now.

The Monk sighed. "Fine. We should get to a town or something. It's getting dark and I've got a weird feeling about this place. We need to find some kind of landmark to figure out just where in this damn swamp we ended up."

"The nearest town... I believe it'd be Willowgreens." Lelouch mumbled, recalling what he'd seen on the gameboard earlier. "It's a town built on a plateau in the center of the area, it should be visible from any point in the swamp if you can get above the treeline."

Gino frowned. "So... should I climb a tree? Cuz' I think I could probably do that." He felt like this body wouldn't have too much issue with that. Hell, he may even be able to clear it in a single jump.

Nodding, Lelouch replied. "That's an option, but..." Gently nudging Anya, he made to stand. The girl, not entirely pleased with this decision, stood with him but remained practically glued to his side, offering him nothing but a petulant glare in response to his incredulous look. Sighing, he held a hand before him. "I've got... memories? No, not really even that... there is information in my head that is clearly not of our world; the abilities of my class, the magics that make up Necromancy." It was more than just raising dead. So much more. Information poured into his mind almost faster than he could process it.

Almost.

He snapped his fingers and a wisp of black, inky smoke arose and formed into a facsimile of a human, with a featureless face that appeared to be shrouded by a hood. It had no legs, instead a trail of the smoky substance that comprised it's body reached down towards the ground, twisting and churning like a small twister. It's torso was thin, and it appeared more solid in consistency than the tail or head, which seemed slightly formless. It's arms were much the same as the tail that attached the creature to the ground, nothing but churning, smoky trails... but the hands were just as solid as the torso, tipped with gleaming black claws.

The bizarre, unnatural looking creature startled Gino and Anya. Something about it was simply... _wrong_. Gino nearly grabbed his weapon, a twin headed polearm of almost the exact shape of the weapon wielded by the Tristan, but was halted by a gesture from Lelouch.

"Wraith." Lelouch acknowledged the creature with a small incline of his head.

The wispy being tilted it's own head in a bizarre greeting, before a sound like the wind rustling through the trees echoed from it.

Nodding, the Necromancer illuminated his reason for calling. "We're in need of directions. I would like you to go above the tree line and point us in the direction of the large plateau that houses Willowgreens; your spirit is from these parts, would you know of it?"

A second wind-rustling noise, before the creature's tail split from the earth, the remnants attached to it fading away. Somewhat slowly, the being rose through the air, easily clearing the tops of the nearby trees within a few moments. One wispy arm raised to point them the correct way, towards the city. The creature's featureless face then turned towards Lelouch, as if to ask if it's job was done.

Offering a pleasant smile to the creature, the Necromancer nodded in thanks before snapping his fingers again, dispelling the creature's body instantly.

"... was... was that a ghost?" Gino asked.

"Yes. Yes it was. The spirit of a man who died approximately four years ago in this place, he passed due to starvation on his way to the same town we are making our way to." Lelouch grinned. "He seemed to find it quite ironic that his death prevented others from experiencing the same, as he was also quite lost."

"... and you understood all of that from the... noises it made?" Anya couldn't help but wonder.

Nodding cheerfully, as though he hadn't just called forth the soul of someone who had died to give them directions, Lelouch replied. "It's an acquired talent; Necromancy allows one to communicate with their summons so long as they are called forth in a state that allows it." That was to say those that had minds to speak of; simple zombies would be just as brainless as any horror movie depicted them, but there were many other methods of revival that allowed one to call forth something of intelligence.

The Wraith he had called moments ago was one such method; while the body of the human who had passed had deteriorated beyond repair, as it was lacking even enough bones in the area to reanimate as a skeleton, the soul was still in the area. Or, at least, a fragment of it. Enough to call forth a Wraith, which was nothing but the Dark magic of a Necromancer merging with a soul or soul fragment to create a creature with the memories of the life it had once led. While not the strongest creatures, they were practically immune to physical damage with exception to the core, which was simply a solid orb of Dark magic inside of the torso where the soul was contained. Any other part of it's body was incorporeal to a degree, excluding the hands which also had a high degree of Dark magic concentrated towards them.

"... I feel really creeped out right now." Gino muttered. "When you picked a Necromancer it was one thing, cuz' this was a game, but now you're actually raising dead people to do your bidding."

Lelouch shrugged. "I'll admit that I do see your point, but please recall that we are in an unfamiliar world with no idea of how to return. In some ways, morality is going to have to take a back seat." Making a thoughtful gesture, he continued. "Moreover, a Wraith isn't so much _raising_ the dead as it is using magic to give a form to the... lingering essence of the dead, so to speak. The soul was already lingering here, I just gave it a form to actually do something." The teen sighed at the odd looks this garnered. "There's a deep, complicated explanation, but the gist of it is that there are far worse things to do than call a Wraith for directions."

"He has a point." Anya mumbled. "It's not like we haven't done... distasteful things before, Gino..." Though previously, she had never cared one way or another. Now she was certain more than a few of those memories were going to translate into nightmares.

Frowning, Gino sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Let's just get to town before it gets dark. I don't wanna know what beasties are in this swamp."

As the trio made to walk away, having gathered their weapons and supplies, a near silent hiss sounded out from the bushes behind them, and a pair of gleaming yellow eyes watched their every move, not daring to come any closer.

Once the three teens had left the clearing entirely, the bush burst into a fit of rustling as a creature darted out from it, hissing much louder than before...

* * *

AN: Chapter two. Done. I am certain there are numerous typos and grammatical errors, but whatever. So almost everyone has been introduced; the main cast who were there for the original prep have had their introductory scenes, and some people are adapting to this world better than others.

Those of you who have read the original version are likely asking where C.C., Kaguya, and Jeremiah are. Rest assured, they'll be here. I'm probably going to introduce them next chapter as a matter of fact.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three; START.

Disclaimer; don't own Code Geass or characters of the same. Whee.

So uh yeah. Previous chapter introduced the first group to enter the fantastic world of Geiis, which by the way is pronounced in my head as "Guy-is", and set everyone off on their short term goals with exception of Milly and Shirley who were too busy dealing with a certain Luluphile's issues to accomplish much. Milly always seemed to me like she'd be the one with a lot of... well, motherly quality to her when needed.

This chapter is gonna be focused on a few things, really. One, arrival to various cities and scenes surrounding such for the various groups. Two, introduction of remaining characters who are already in the game. Three, setting up slight plot elements for future chapters and the various parties to deal with.

* * *

Even with the rather disgusted looks he was receiving due to his current appearance, Suzaku couldn't help but feel like this Lighthold place was absolutely spectacular. It certainly lived up to it's name, it wasn't hard to believe at all that this place had been built and maintained by beings who had been blessed by an Angel. It was gorgeous, with immaculately kept streets and buildings made from either wood or marble based on just what they were used for. There wasn't much in the way of foliage, but fountains were all over the place and there was at least one forested park.

The city itself was built into the side of a mountain; as a matter of fact, it resided in something of a bowl like shape that was created in the conflict between Angels and Demons that had gotten out of control. A collaborative spell between five high ranking angels had been overcharged horrendously in an effort to put an end to the battle in one fell swoop... and, well, it worked.

It had also torn the top of the mountain off and left a rather convenient base camp for the Ascended who had followed them into battle. Eventually, they had just decided to build their main city here as it was something of a holy ground to them, and furthermore the proximity it offered to the Cursedwoods allowed the Paladins to both cull the hordes for the sake of training and, further, because it really did need to be done.

That detestable stretch of withered forest and barren dirt was constantly pumping out more and more undead monstrosities; an innate quality of the land which had been bestowed upon it by a Demon who's power had nearly no equal, all as a part of his plan to swarm the world with a massive army of undead at once. Wars were fought upon those grounds for centuries, numerous dead being left on the field of battle as the wars waged on, as very few armies were able to actually collect their deceased in the chaos.

Eventually this led up to the very first Death Night, which was something of a revered night in history as he'd been told. The dead had risen from the ground, dark magics fueling them as they tried to unleash themselves upon the surrounding areas in an unrelenting swarm of horror.

It probably would have worked a lot better if there hadn't been an entire city with scores upon scores of warriors who were extremely inclined to fighting undead literally at the doorstep of said undead.

The conflict only lasted a single night, and though there were casualties on the side of the Lighthold soldiers, it had been a decisive victory as the Cursedwoods had never been able to unleash such an enormous horde at once ever again. Any time the monsters would stop spawning every so often, a large group of Paladins would be sent to look into it... usually springing a trap before it was fully prepared.

In this way, the Cursedwoods were kept under control. It was a task the Ascended of Lighthold took upon themselves to perform, though they saw support and revenue from their actions as it was a benefit to everyone.

'It really is interesting how this world functions.' Suzaku thought to himself, looking around at the people going about their business without a care despite their proximity to such dangerous creatures. 'It has it's own history, much like our own world, but clearly the two are quite different.' Honestly, it was still really disconcerting that such a world existed at all. This was not something he would have considered possible, yet there it was. He was still covered in the proof of it, after all. "I feel like I'm causing a scene." Suzaku admitted sheepishly as he made his way through the streets, still filthy with the gore of the slain undead. At the very least it was no longer on his face, as he'd been given a wet cloth to remove most of that.

Port shrugged, guiding the teen through the streets of the city. "Well, kid, you're covered in guts and blood. I mean yeah that's not entirely unusual in our city cuz', y'know, undead." He chuckled a bit. "Usually it's not _this_ much, since there's more than one person to soak up the splatter if you will. You, my friend, have been hit with _all_ of the splatter." He threw his arms out in a wide gesture while putting emphasis on the amount of gore flying around. "So, yeah. You're kind of unsightly right now, no lie." The Paladin admitted with a snicker.

Releasing a sigh, the teen replied. "So, you mentioned something about a bath? Are we just going to dump me in a lake or what?" He was legitimately curious as to what kind of facilities he would find.

"Meh. Like I said, being covered in rancid guts, blood, and other goop is kind of a common thing in this place; so bathhouses are extremely popular as a way to unwind after scraping said gunk off." Port replied, pointing towards a small bridge up ahead. "So, basically, we've got our own little district pretty much dedicated solely to baths and beds; that is to say inns. Pretty much any temporary resident wants to be near the baths for their own purposes, so all but like two of our city's inns are located past that little river."

The river he mentioned seemed extremely out of place to Suzaku. It was a small thing, probably only teen feet across, though it seemed to span from one end of the mountainous wall to another, separating the two districts. There was absolutely no way that was a naturally occurring thing either, considering how this city came to be. Was it magic or some kind of aquaduct, or maybe a combination of the two? Either way, this small river acted as a sort of barrier that separated the main city from this other district. "Huh." Suzaku remarked curiously, deciding to actually ask about the river. "So... why the river? It can't be natural, right?"

The blonde Paladin grinned. "It looked nice. It's not natural, nah. Basically we dug a bigass trench and filled it up with water, use some runes and whatnot to keep it flowing and clean, and boom. Pretty solid little landmark to let'cha know you're in the right place."

"Runes?" Suzaku asked. Assuming they were magic, he really had no knowledge of them. Perhaps he should have read up more on the history and lore of this world, but it was kind of a moot point now.

Port blinked. "Well, yeah. Runes. They're, uh... well it's magic, to be quite honest." He shrugged, not quite sure how to explain them in detail. "Mainly caster-types can really make use of the things, but they're kind of general usage really... er, rather, if you have someone set one up for you it's possible to supply it energy yourself without knowing magic."

Seeing the confusion in the teen's face, Port sighed. Why had he volunteered to guide the kid alone? Now would've been a stellar time for Sophie to be around to actually explain magical hoosy-whatsits to him. "... basically runes are pretty little symbols you draw on stuff that makes other stuff happen if you put magic power into them. They can be set up to run off ambient energy in the air or drain mana from someone who doesn't actually use spells and shit." He grunted. "I'm not magically inclined; I just know they work and that's all I really need."

Runes were pretty much the driving factor behind damn near every little convenience that the people of the world enjoyed; from effective stove-top cooking and ovens, to bathing and plumbing, to simple entertainment, to long distance communication. It wasn't an exaggeration to say they were really important to the current culture of the world.

Getting the point, Suzaku nodded lightly. "So, then, runes are used in a lot of things?"

"Yep. Some of them are sold in stores pre-printed for commercial use, the simpler ones. More custom ones require commissioning an actual Runecrafter to install it. That's usually the best way to go, but it's more costly." The simple ones worked just fine for what they were needed for; they were basically just patterns pumped with magic at the location so they could be used, and they took so little energy that even a random civilian could recharge it each week without any issue. "As a matter of fact, the bath were stopping by is one of many equipped with runes that will assist you, my rancid smelling companion, in smelling like something other than "victory."" He accentuated that last statement with air quotes.

Suzaku frowned. "Should I be concerned about that?" The boy asked cautiously.

"Nah. I mean they'll spray your ass down." Port chuckled at the incredulous look. "Seriously, it's awesome. You just step into the basin and spray yourself down, and I do recommend you do this in your armor because it makes getting the stuff clean so much easier, then strip yourself down and enjoy a nice, hot soak until you're comparable to a prune."

Looking himself over, Suzaku sighed. "So basically I just get hosed off, clean myself up a bit to make sure everything's gone, then just relax. Is that the gist of it?" That actually sounded quite pleasant, after all the stress this situation had caused him.

"Yessir. The beauty is in the simplicity." Like he'd said earlier, they were literally a hop skip and a jump away from a stretch of land filled to the absolute brim with undead that tended to explode into gore whenever you cut them down. With conditions like that either everyone stopped giving a shit about the smell or they found easier ways to get clean; the Ascended Order was of the latter variety. "And since the fine folks of this lovely district are used to us soldier-types coming from that environment, they're quite forgiving of the stench we bring on the way in."

Suzaku laughed lightly, before thinking of something. "I agreed to come with you guys, but you know I really didn't think much on the afterward. How much are inns around here? I don't know if I'll be able to afford to stay."

The teen blinked as Port waved his concerns away. "Kid, you did the work of six trained Paladins out in the field today; considering it wasn't an officially sanctioned job request, you aren't gonna get paid for it, but the Order is more than willing to spot the bill on your living conditions until you get yourself sorted out." Actually, he'd done the job of more than six people considering the _average_ group sent out tended to range from ten to twelve. They were just a cut above the rest. They were the elites, essentially.

This whole "elite" thing also allowed him to make calls like that without worry since it wasn't something extraordinary. Living expenses for one teenager, a kid who had managed to fight off a small army of undead at that, was something they would happily pay.

Especially if doing so endeared them to him, as they would be extremely pleased to have such an effective new recruit.

"Oh." Suzaku replied with a small smile. "That's great, then. One worry off of my shoulders."

"Yep. Now we just need to get the spoils of battle off of you and we'll be good to go for a while." Port joked. "Like I said; we're footing the bill on your living expenses for a while, so I'm gonna show you to a cozy little inn I know of with it's own bathouse. We will, of course, be booking your room after the bath, as that is our biggest priority right now. Because seriously..."

Cutting him off with a pair of rolling eyes, Suzaku replied. "I smell like a rancid corpse. I know." As if he couldn't smell it himself.

"See, you're getting the hang of this whole "paladin" thing already."

"I can only hope it doesn't mean my sense of humor becomes more like yours."

"... kid that was uncalled for." Port pouted.

Suzaku snorted in amusement. "You're a grown man and you're pouting; I'd say that's what's uncalled for."

With that, the two began to laugh as they made their way down the streets, drawing bemused looks from the people going about their daily lives.

* * *

Leaning up against a tree yet again with the quiet Shirley in her arms, Milly couldn't help but be amused at how the situation had pretty much rounded back to the very start.

Shirley was sleeping again, and in her sleep she had yet again gotten her hands on the older blonde's chest. Considering the rather world-shaking revelations the bubbly girl had just went through, the fact that she had cried herself to sleep in Milly's arms wasn't too surprising.

It did, however, still exasperate the older girl as she couldn't help but find the sleeping habits of her underclassmen amusing. After a breakdown like that and falling asleep after exhausting herself with tears, the girl had then began to once again grope her in her sleep. Girl after her own heart, really.

Again, Milly didn't particularly mind it. She'd felt up the orangette several times, much to said girl's chagrin, so she didn't really have room to complain about it. It also wasn't as though the girl was doing it on purpose.

Though every once in a while, she would tense up and squeeze quite a bit harder than usual, which Milly wasn't too fond of. Those were sensitive, damn it. She had nearly jumped out of her skin the first time.

Deciding to give the girl a few more minutes, Milly sighed. What a weird, weird day this was. Here she had wanted to spend some time with her friends, and it had turned into an absolute mess. 'Maybe Lelouch is right...' She couldn't help but ponder. 'Maybe I am cursed or something. Seems like every time I plan some sort of event it blows up spectacularly.' Which wasn't always bad, honestly. There were several events that even the dark haired cynic couldn't help but remember fondly despite their explosive failure.

A sudden loud noise, much like an explosion, drew her attention as a man tumbled into view, easily within a few feet of them. From his appearance, he had been launched some distance; he had quite a bit of foliage stuck to him in various places. Despite the rather violent upheaval from his original position, he had managed to land on his feet with a single hand on the ground to steady his crouching form.

He was older than them; though she didn't believe he was particularly old... as a matter of fact, he looked sort of familiar just from his stance and the striking turquoise shade of his hair.

From what Milly could glean from the brief moment the man was in her field of view, he was clad in leather armor. If she wasn't mistaken, there was some metal worked into it in places, but she couldn't get a good enough look before something obscured the man's image from her sight.

Dark smoke billowed out from around the man with a loud hissing noise, completely enveloping him and heavily limiting Milly's vision.

Moments later a pained yell echoed out, this finally being enough to startle Shirley into wakefulness as the girl hastily rolled off of Milly, grabbing her staff from the ground nearby instinctively. For a few moments, it was deathly silent.

"Hmph... Filthy brigand, setting upon me from behind..." A regal voice muttered, the sneer evident in his tone. "Damnable explosive traps... to think such a thing nearly caught me off guard..."

The smoke began to clear, and the two girls could see the man standing within. Milly hadn't been wrong; his attire did contain some metal in addition to the leather.

His chest was covered by a fairly standard looking leather chest piece, though it was colored a navy blue. At either side, beginning just under the arms, the navy blue leather was replaced by chainmail. The right side was colored black, while the left was a red color, and surrounding the chainmail was a sort of golden embroidery. Covering his legs, the man had a pair of simple padded leather pants, colored the same navy as the chestpiece. His feet were covered by a pair of black, sturdy looking studded leather boots, and on his forearms one could find studded leather braces of the same color.

A leather gorget reinforced with plates of metal sat at his neck, and worn over this was a rugged looking black hooded cloak, which was beginning to tear at the end quite heavily, possibly from the very explosion the man had just mentioned. At his hip he had a sheath, currently emptied of it's blade, and a small quiver filled with what appeared to be crossbow bolts.

At his back, hidden somewhat by the cloak, there appeared to be a holster for something, most likely a small handheld crossbow as the man certainly wasn't carrying a fully sized one on his person.

His face had sharp, regal features, and a small, thin frown was set on his lips as he berated himself for being caught in said explosion. A pair of vivid orange eyes looked over the area around him, seemingly just noticing the girls huddled by the tree gazing at him warily.

Blinking in surprise, the man quickly swung his arm to remove most of the blood dripping from his blade, a wicked looking serrated cutlass, before sheathing it. "Ah, I'm terribly sorry for that." He apologized quickly, glancing behind him at the corpse of the bandit who had assaulted him moments before. "Pardon me for a moment." Before the smoke could clear entirely and give the two teenagers a clear view of the rather violently disemboweled corpse, who's heart had also been pierced for good measure, the man quickly grabbed it and moved it further out of the way behind some nearby foliage.

Yes, they were likely aware he just killed a man judging by both the cry of pain said man had released and the large amount of blood nearby, but no need for them to actually _see_ the corpse. Young girls like that needn't be exposed to such grizzly sights. After having suitably hidden the corpse under the waning cover of his smoke bomb, the man slowly made his way back to the two teens.

Both of them had stood by this point, eyeing him cautiously. The man raised his hands up to show he meant no harm, calming them somewhat. "As I said, my apologies. I was assaulted by a bandit on the road nearby and our conflict took me here; I didn't mean to startle you." He was still rather annoyed at having someone get the drop on him so soon after finding his way into this bizarre world.

"... Are you... Jeremiah Gottwald?" Milly asked in confusion, finally recalling just who had features that matched up with those of the man before her. The orange eyes, regal face, and turquoise hair along with the fairly chivalrous behavior finally matched up to someone she remembered.

Startling slightly at that, the orange eyes narrowed slightly as he seemed to be searching his memory for something. "Indeed, I am..." Looking her over once again, the man's eyes widened suddenly. "Miss Ashford?" He asked, surprised, before bowing lightly. "Despite the bizarre circumstances, it is a pleasure to meet you once again, Miss Ashford."

It was Milly's turn to blink. This was Jeremiah Gottwald, who was supposedly killed in action after the battle at Narita. He was also, at one point, a Margrave and served as the acting consul when Prince Clovis had been slain.

So, how exactly did he know her just from sight? And furthermore why was he being so respectful? "I... wasn't aware we had met, truthfully." She admitted sheepishly, expecting him to take offense.

Instead, the man surprised her again by offering a smile. "I wouldn't expect you to; it has been years since those peaceful days at the Aries Villa." He had been just one of Lady Marianne's many guards, though he had interacted with the children more often than most. Prince Lelouch had occasionally asked him for a game of chess, and he had always happily accepted... and lost horribly.

But now things were different. Prince Lelouch was no longer his charge, no longer a prince of his nation. Now he had gone on to betray his country and his father, becoming a terrorist who had threatened the Empire numerous times.

It was thanks to luck and circumstance that he had been given this chance; when his world had come crashing down, he had been found. Experimented upon.

Used like a tool.

But he had endured it. Become stronger. Broken free, tried to exact his revenge... only to be halted at the very last moment and dragged into the deep ocean... again, his world had collapsed.

And yet again, he had been found. Lord V.V. had taken him in, perfected and internalized his augmentations, given him a fully functioning body and returned his sanity to him. In return, he was asked to slay Zero with his newly gained ability. If it had been only that, perhaps it would be one thing... but he had also been trusted with Zero's true identity. Not as the student, Lelouch Lamperouge. But as the former seventeenth heir to the throne, Lelouch vi Britannia.

"Wait, wait... the Aries Villa... you were one of the guards!" Milly announced as the memory suddenly came back to her. "Yeah, that's right. You were the one who hated oranges."

The man twitched briefly. "Yes. I still do." Jeremiah sighed. This was an unexpected complication; he hadn't realized that the Ashford Heiress would be in this mess as well. Considering how close the Ashfords were with Lady Marianne, he would be damned if he allowed harm to befall her. But he still had his own objective to achieve while here. Questions he needed answered.

"How in the world did you get here?" Shirley asked in confusion. They had all been sucked into a boardgame as the characters they had chosen; this man wasn't there for that, so where did he come from?

"I was in the Tokyo Settlement when a red burst of light passed through everything; suddenly, the world had stopped. Cars halted instantly, planes stopped mid flight, people froze in place." He explained this with a hint of his own confusion, having never realized such a thing would be possible. This wasn't Rolo's Geass, oh no. It was a similar concept with the simple exception that this was stopping time itself, rather than the human perception of it. "I was not frozen, and I saw a pillar of light shining into the sky." Jeremiah wasn't lying, really. These things had happened, they just weren't the only things that happened.

In reality, he had contacted V.V.'s personal communicator using the emergency line he had been provided. From there, the immortal had explained to him what was happening, as well as admitting his surprise at the Geass Canceler's effectiveness.

Jeremiah hardly believed it even after seeing the results himself, but the world had paused in it's entirety because some random teenagers had decided to play a game. Unfortunately for everyone, that game just so happened to be a horrifically powerful artifact that not even the combined study of the Order and any previous immortals could provide adequate explanation for it's existence or why it took the forms it did.

Regardless, V.V. had asked him to enter the pillar of light for himself and put an end to this madness. He had ordered him to complete the objective of this game and return the world to normal so they could continue with their original goal unhindered.

"So... you just walked towards the pretty light?" Milly asked jokingly, with a small touch of skepticism.

Allowing some of his own humor to slip through, Jeremiah replied. "Yes, essentially." Looking around him, the man sighed. "Perhaps it would be best if we found a settlement of some sort to continue this discussion? I don't believe it is wise to remain out in the woods at night in unfamiliar lands such as these." His concern was primarily for the two teens. This world had already proven itself to be dangerous considering his first noteworthy meeting had been with a bandit who had sent him flying with an explosive trap on the road.

Frowning slightly, Milly decided to just say what was on her mind. "I'm fine with that, but at the same time I'm still sort of wary of this whole situation. It's kind of coincidental that someone who's been declared killed in action comes back from the dead suddenly under these circumstances."

Jeremiah nodded in understanding. "I agree; the circumstances are bizarre. I will not fault you for distrusting me, but please know that I am a man of my word and that I have absolutely no intention of harming you. As you said earlier, I was one of Lady Marianne's guardsmen. Considering how close the Empress was with the Ashfords, I am obligated to protect you." Perhaps not in any official capacity, however it simply wouldn't feel right _not_ to aid one of the Ashford family after all of the support they had provided Lady Marianne.

"But at the same time, you were rather quick to put Suzaku up for trial despite knowing he did nothing wrong." Milly shot back dryly.

It was the older man's turn to frown now. "I... was perhaps rash in that decision, as Sir Kururugi has come to be an excellent soldier and Knight, but please do see it from my view; I could not simply tell the public that we had no idea who had murdered the first member of royalty since the Empress." He could just imagine the uproar that would have caused. "In the end, the entire thing was a mistake on my part, but one I would make again if I had to." He regretted that decision, really, but at the same time they had needed a scapegoat to tide the public over as they continued to track down the real culprit. Kururugi was just the best fit.

"Well, those actions were in the past either way." Shirley chimed in, somewhat subdued but still cheerful. "Things like that can't be changed no matter what, so all we can do is move forward." Seeing the rather bemused looks she drew, the girl flushed slightly and explained. "Ah, I mean to say that something like that shouldn't have any bearing on how we act towards Lord Gottwald."

Jeremiah chuckled lightly. "Please, Jeremiah will be fine. I no longer hold such titles." He'd lost everything in Narita only to gain perhaps more than he had before. "Not to mention, in this bizarre world we are all equals either way." Everyone here was in the same boat; they were in an unfamiliar world with unfamiliar skills and information flowing through their minds that made no sense in the context of their old existence. Moreover, interactions within civilized places may be odd if he was being called "Lord" by two teenage girls.

That could only end poorly, in his mind.

An exasperated sigh slipped from the blonde's lips. "Fine, fine. We'll move to a less isolated location, I believe there was a city north of us. I've got a compass and a map, so just let me take a moment to double check and we'll set off alright?"

"Very well. I will keep watch over you." Jeremiah gave a light bow before taking up a position to keep watch over the area, hand on the hilt of his blade.

"So... Jeremiah." Shirley piped up, trying out the sound of his name. Seeing his attention on her, though not entirely as he was still observing the surrounding forest intently, the girl asked her question. "This may sound odd to you, but do you know what class and race you were?" Since he wasn't with them for the character creation, how did his current body come to be?

The man offered a small smile. "I believe the class I have been assigned was Inquisitor, and this body's race is... well, oddly enough I'm being told it's of Angelic origin. A Half-Angel is what my mind is telling me."

Shirley blinked. "Huh. That wasn't an option for us at the character creation process. It said that Half-Angels and Half-Demons were extremely rare and would be limited to characters in the story."

Shrugging lightly, Jeremiah replied. "I don't know what to tell you, miss... ah." Seemingly realizing that he hadn't caught her name, the man directed his gaze towards her from the treeline briefly to offer an apologetic smile. "I'm terribly sorry, but it seems I had forgotten to get your name." Too many things happening at once, it seemed.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" The girl giggled to herself at forgetting such a thing. "I'm Shirley Fenette."

"Miss Fenette, then. I didn't really have much idea what I was getting into when I entered that light." He'd been told roughly what would happen, but nothing could prepare one for such a huge jump from reality. "It's... well, quite something." In all honesty, Jeremiah believe it was rather thrilling in a sense. He had never been into such games in his youth, but from time to time he had enjoyed a good fantasy novel and being in a world that was so close to those he'd read of... well, in some ways it was positively exciting.

She nodded, somewhat subdued. "Yes, this whole thing is certainly something else." The girl sighed softly, seemingly drifting off into thought for a moment before snapping back to reality. "But, still. We're here now so we have to figure out what to do now."

The blonde heiress chuckled in agreement as she strode up behind the redhead, throwing an arm over her shoulder jovially. "Well, first up we get to Stormhelm. It's the largest settlement of humans on the continent, so we ought to be able to take some time to get our bearings there." Squeezing the younger girl's should with her hand, Milly continued. "And then we'll want to set out and find the others."

Shirley flinched slightly, before releasing a second sigh. "Yes, that's true."

"If you would have me, I would like to accompany you on your travels." Jeremiah offered with a small bow. "As I've said, should anything happen to Miss Ashford when I could have prevented it I would feel indescribably guilty." He frowned softly, thinking back to those days in the Aries Villa. "I have already failed too many who I swore to protect." He was a man who valued loyalty above nearly everything else; perhaps his duties as a guard for Lady Marianne did not include the protection of the Ashfords, but at the same time they were a group who were practically family to his Lady.

Jeremiah was certain that she would have wanted her men to offer their protection to any of the Ashfords as though they were direct relatives.

Milly frowned. "I really don't trust you, Jeremiah." She announced simply. "Really, your arrival makes absolutely no sense. You just kind of popped up at random and now you're wanting to follow us as a bodyguard? It doesn't add up." Giving him a piercing stare, the blonde asked the question that had been on her mind since she first saw the man.

"What is your actual motive here? If you hadn't found out that I was here, what would you be doing? I know you had to have entered that light with some sort of intent." She just didn't believe that a man like Jeremiah Gottwald would wander into something of this sort uninformed, not to mention how suspicious it was in the first place that he hadn't been frozen in time if the rest of the world had been. Something didn't fit, and she wanted to know what.

Jeremiah bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Indeed, I do have my own motive and I am not here by accident; these things are true. My goal is to put an end to this game and free the rest of the world from this pause in time, as it will heavily delay the plans of my employer. As such, I have no intention of harming any of you as it will simply make clearing the objective of this world more difficult." He'd been forbidden to harm any of them, as well. V.V. had explained, quite vaguely, that the death of a player of this game could have far-reaching consequences that they would not want to deal with, especially if brought about by another player.

"... Alright." Milly nodded slowly, considering his answer. "You can come with us; we'll meet up with the rest of our group and then try and figure out where to go from there. But I'm still wary of you, so please keep that in mind." They could probably use another person just for the sake of safety, honestly, but Milly didn't want to trust a man who had appeared out of nowhere after going missing for a year. "I've got a few more questions I want to ask you once we get to the city, so let's head off." With that announcement, Milly detached herself from Shirley and began to inspect her compass. "Follow me, and keep your eyes peeled. I don't want to get jumped in the middle of the woods."

* * *

Seated around a small table within a crowded tavern, three people were enjoying a simple meal and conversing lightly. The table was quite far into the rear of the establishment, situated near the wall. It was a fairly safe bet that anyone who wanted a table in such a location didn't want their conversations listened in on.

Though the trio weren't discussing particularly damning matters, at least one of them valued the privacy of their conversation enough to take such a precaution.

"Hoo, boy! This stuff is delicious!" One could likely guess that the boisterous Fallen shouting about how good the food was is not the one to suggest such a measure.

"Gino, quieten down. We don't need you making a ruckus." An exasperated Lelouch mumbled, eating his own meal with a much more sophisticated demeanor. The meal wasn't particularly spectacular to look at; a cut of beef slathered in gravy with assorted vegetables on the side, with a basket of bread settled in the center of the table. It was a hearty enough meal, rather filling, and truthfully Gino wasn't wrong to say that it was delicious. Sometimes simple things were quite satisfying.

The blonde boy in question was currently stuffing one of the rolls into his mouth, enjoying it greatly. "Man, these things are awesome." He noted cheerfully after swallowing the bread. "I'm glad we ended up shacking up here." They'd managed to get rooms for a week at this place, the Bread and Butter Inn, at a fairly good price. It hadn't cut into their total funds much at all, especially considering each of them had started with a fairly significant amount of currency. Gino was especially enthused by the cooking, in particular the bread that gave the place it's name, as it was pretty much just a variety of different specialty breads.

"... I like the cinnamon ones." Anya mumbled, swiping one of said rolls from the basket before beginning to nibble at it contentedly. The cheesy ones were nice too, but she was more into the sweeter bread. Really, the amount of different flavors they had was great. Gino had already been through around five of them, each a different kind.

An exasperated sigh slipped past the blue skinned elf's lips as he rolled his eyes at his companions, though he would admit to enjoying the food as well. 'It's a good thing we were able to arrive before dark.' Lelouch thought to himself idly, eyes roaming around the establishment. 'I don't want to imagine what it's like in that swamp at night.'

The lower floor of the building was dedicated to dining and drinking; it was a fairly popular tavern even though the primary focus of the business was as an inn. All across the room, one could see folks merrily drinking and eating, dancing around, telling stories and otherwise entertaining themselves. The atmosphere was quite positive and cozy, something that made Lelouch quite comfortable as he enjoyed his own food.

It was nice to just have a calm evening enjoying a nice meal, especially after having been thrown into such a bizarre situation. If not for the rather frightening implications that he'd discovered upon realizing everyone had their memories returned to them, he would be somewhat excited at this strange new experience. As of now, however, it was just a matter of time before things spiraled out of control.

The town of Willowgreens was a fairly interesting place, though; the town itself was seated upon a fairly random plateau in the center of the swamp. It was pretty much the only solid patch of ground large enough for a settlement, so obviously one had been built upon it. The town was quite a sight to see, as it stood looking out over the dense treeline of the swamp just outside it's walls. Walls which stood even higher over the treeline, making the town rather defensible. Anyone who wanted to invade this place would have a hard time as the walls were high, the paths into the town were fairly narrow, and the town guards were far from lax due to the constant threat of attack by lizardmen.

Lizardmen were a tribal race who were almost universally hostile. While capable of speaking, they often learned no language but their own and were notoriously violent. Large, vicious, just smart enough to be dangerous, and with a natural resistance to poisons that made them fully capable of harvesting the various toxic substances in the Swamplands for their own use... these lizardmen were dangerous creatures, from what he'd been able to gather during his brief questioning of one of the guardsmen as they had entered the town.

The wildlife of this area was also rather... odd. Cave tortoises, a bizarre species of tortoise who were not cold blooded despite being for all intents and purposes a reptile. Literally the only thing that set these creatures apart from a regular tortoise would be the fact that their blood and internal body temperature was higher than that of a human.

Due to this, rather than seeking the sun for the sake of warming them these creatures made their home in the various caves of the Swamplands in order to keep cool, with a large group of them in the caverns below the town itself. They had been turned into something of a tourist attraction, as the creatures were docile and quite friendly, especially after being so used to people interacting with them.

All in all, this town was quite quaint. Of course it would have it's fair share of problems, Lelouch was certain of that, but at the same time he was pleased that this was the first town he and his companions had run across.

"Aaaaaah, yeeeeeees." Gino groaned in satisfaction, having finished his meal. Leaning back in his chair, the blonde Monk chuckled at the weird look he was getting from Anya. "After a bizarre entry into a world not my own, I am at the very least glad to see that food is still a constant source of comfort and pleasure for me." He elaborated to the girl with a grin.

Said girl only shook her head, nearly finished with the cinnamon bread she had taken minutes earlier. Unlike Gino who was stuffing them into his mouth at high speed, she preferred to just enjoy the taste. Considering how her emotions had only just gotten to the point where such a thing was really possible, the girl felt justified in taking her time to savor the food. "... I don't know how you don't get fat." She mumbled humorously towards the gluttonous Knight.

"S'cuz I do stuff to work it off." Gino flexed his arms. "I actually do work out, you know. Can't get this marvelous body without some sort of investment." Blinking after a moment of thought, he corrected himself. "Well actually I guess _this_ marvelous body wasn't built up through working out, it just kind of happened." He shrugged, flicking his tail behind him as a sort of emphasis. "I mean, the tail is kind of cool and I'm actually like three or four times more capable than I used to be if I had to guess, but this whole thing is still weird to me."

Lelouch shrugged lightly, finishing the last of his own meal and picking one of the few remaining breads out of the basket at random. Taking a bite of it, he hummed appreciatively at the taste of cranberry and walnuts. "I'm still trying to deal with the fact that my body temperature is so low naturally." He was perfectly comfortable, but at the same time it was disconcerting to realize just how cold he was compared to other races. He'd been fairly startled earlier at just how warm Anya's body had seemed, but in reality it was just his own being cooler.

It wasn't to the point where his touch was uncomfortable, he supposed, as Anya seemed perfectly content to cuddle up to him... but at the same time, she'd told him he had "doctor hands".

Gino had been quite amused by that statement.

"Meh." The blonde replied with a noncommittal noise. "I'm sort of unsympathetic to your plight, cuz' you ended up with just some pointy ears and doctor hands." He snickered at the look that last comment earned him. "But yeah, no, seriously I have a tail and horns. Case closed." He wasn't going to get into the weird skin tone since Lelouch was practically pastel blue, or the fact that both of them had pointy nails. His were black at least, though. Lelouch had ended up with purple. "And Anya just ended up with those cute little pointy ears."

The girl blinked, before reaching up to feel said points. "... huh." She mumbled idly. "I... actually didn't notice that earlier." She hadn't really bothered to check her own appearance since everyone else seemed calm about it.

"What? How did you not notice?" Gino asked curiously, genuinely wondering how one could go hours without noticing something odd like that.

"I don't know. They're my _ears_. It's not like I see them that much." She shrugged in response. "It's also not like they really feel all that different." She didn't have any extra body parts or weird skin tones or even any bizarre traits just from her race, unlike the other two. Gino looked pretty much like some kind of demon, and Lelouch was more human looking, but his skin tone was weird and his body was kind of cold. Really, of the three of them she couldn't help but feel like she got off easiest.

Though there was something to be said for how exotic the two of them looked. It was kind of neat. She was especially amused by how much fun Gino seemed to have just messing around with his tail, as it was such a weird concept that he even had one. And Lelouch's body temperature was kind of strange, but at the same time she didn't really mind it much.

"Well, she has a fair point." Lelouch chimed in, idly munching on his piece of bread. "Mine are rather obvious." Considering the points were more exaggerated, his ears felt a bit different than previously, enough so that he would have noticed just off feeling alone. Anya's looked fairly normal excluding the small point. Releasing a small, content, sigh Lelouch stood up. "I'm going to go take a walk around town." It was getting late, but the night hadn't settled in just yet and he wanted to do a bit of looking around before turning in for the night.

Gino waved lightly. "That's fine. I'll stick around here for a bit." Honestly, he was probably going to go socialize with some of the other folks around here. Maybe learn a thing or two about something useful. Or maybe play darts, as he saw a group hovering around the dart board waiting for something to start up.

"I'll come with you, Lulu." Anya announced, eagerly getting out of her seat and moving over to his side.

Shrugging, the white haired teen turned to leave. "We'll be back at some point." He waved towards Gino, before making his way towards the door with Anya following suit.

"So do you have anything specific you want to do, Lulu? Or are we just wandering?" Anya asked as they walked through the tavern with a smile on her lips. She was content with either one, honestly. Despite the fact that their arrival into this world was bizarre and somewhat scary, she was so much happier right now than she had ever been so it didn't really phase her much. Not only did she have her memories and emotions back, she also had unrestricted access to one of her favorite people for the foreseeable future.

As the duo exited the inn and made their way into the street, Lelouch shrugged lightly. "In reality, I have no idea what there is _to_ do. Our situation is bizarre." Understatement of the century, he couldn't help but think to himself. "Honestly, for now I suppose I just want to walk around some and get used to..." He gestured towards his own body, which was vastly different than what he was used to in a lot more ways than one might suspect. "This. Not only do I look different, I feel... better." His character had been rolled with twelve in all stats, the maximum for starting statistics. And Lelouch could tell, because his body felt absolutely spectacular.

"Better?" Anya tilted her head curiously. She sort of knew what he meant, as she was currently lugging around a pack full of various gadgets and materials on top of being garbed in metal armor that she hardly noticed.

"Like I could jump from the ground and reach the rooftops with little effort." Lelouch explained, bemusement dripping from his tone.

Anya shrugged in response. "I'm... well, honestly I'm okay with this situation so far." She mumbled.

"I can see why." Lelouch admitted, taking a brief look around the area just outside the inn, moving conversation away from their bizarre circumstances as others on the street may hear them. Inside of the tavern it was more likely their conversation would be drowned out by the loud, raucous behavior of the patrons.

The part of town they were in seemed to be where all of the various stores were. He'd spotted a few different general stores, clothing stores, smithies and carpenters, the works. The town was something of a circle, and the districts were separated as quarters. As of now, they had been through the market district and briefly passed through the military district that served as a sort of check-in for new visitors as well as housing the primary residence and training facilities of the guards.

They had built the gateway into the city quite firmly within the military quarter, so any traditional force arriving through the only gate of the town would be bottle-necked directly into the main defenders of said town.

Lelouch wasn't quite sure what the remaining districts comprised of, but he could guess that at least one of them was dedicated to residence of locals, as it seemed like there were next to no homes within this part of town.

Sighing, the teen looked back towards Anya. "Well, I suppose we can just go explore the town." The sun was currently setting, but it wasn't quite gone yet. With what little daylight remained, they really wouldn't accomplish too much. Just wandering around for a bit would probably do them more good than anything else he could think of.

"Okay." Anya replied cheerfully, seizing one of the boy's arms and holding him closely. "Let's go." She ignored the looks this drew from the various passerbys.

Rolling his eyes at the sudden show of affection, Lelouch allowed his arm to be taken without a fuss as the two began to walk down the street, moving towards the main street of the market district. "I suppose we could take a closer look at what shops there are..." He'd seen a few he may actually want to visit, perhaps they would have time. It was getting closer to evening, but none of the stores had closed just yet. But this was mainly to familiarize himself with the town, so that would probably be put off until tomorrow.

"We could go see the turtles." The girl attached to his arm offered.

"No, Gino would be angry if we went without him. He wanted to do that some time tomorrow." Lelouch replied, considering something to himself. "And while I would like to just explore everywhere in the town, I feel like that may seem somewhat suspicious of someone who just arrived." The guards already seemed somewhat on edge with the increase in lizardmen activity he'd heard of, it would probably be best not to push his luck on something like that.

He felt Anya shrug against him, before the girl leaned her head further into his side. "... we could just find a quiet place to cuddle?" She recommended, not having had her fill of affection by any means. Though, at the same time she did have something to talk to him about. Now would probably be a good time for that since Gino was away.

Lelouch offered the girl a raised eyebrow as if to ask if she had really just said that out loud, before relenting. "We could have just stayed at the inn to do that, you know." He replied dryly.

Anya shrugged, figuring this was as good a chance as any to broach the subject. "But Gino was there, and I don't want him to know about this yet." She could feel his body tense, and the uncomfortable look that found it's way onto his face made her frown. "It's not anything bad..." Anya assured him, managing to calm the teen somewhat.

"... Fine." Lelouch sighed again. "Let's go find somewhere quiet."

* * *

With a furious noise, steel met steel as two warriors engaged in battle.

The first was the older of the two; standing fairly tall on two legs ending in a pair of hooves, the teen had blue hair and an easygoing look about him despite being locked in combat. In his right hand he held a fairly common looking short sword, and his left hand carried a kite shield of fine make, though with a single, small dent in it.

Currently, the Satyr stood with his blade locked against that of a young boy, a brunette with a soft demeanor. Despite the placid expression on the younger boy's face, he was easily holding steady against the sword struggling to overpower his grip on his dagger. Holding the short blade with his right hand, the boy fished into his pocket for another item before lobbing it at close range towards the older male.

"Ack!" Rivalz sputtered, losing his footing as the weighted iron ball had hit him in the knee. Due to this, the advantage of the power struggle shifted firmly into the hands of the younger boy.

As Rolo pushed forward to try and capitalize on his advantage, Rivalz had a devious idea. Rather than attempting to right his footing, the teen simply allowed himself to fall backwards, throwing off the balance of the assassin boy as he moved forward. Landing on his back, Rivalz quickly tucked his legs into a position to kick.

On his back with a pair of dangerously strong legs capped with solid hooves ready to be launched into the younger boy's chest, as Rolo had fallen forward somewhat during the struggle, Rivalz couldn't help but grin at the rather surprised look this drew from the kid. "My win?" He knew for a fact that leather armor wouldn't do enough to keep this from being a finishing blow, especially as he was putting use to one of the Warrior skills stuck in his head. Thunder Stomp was usually an area of affect attack used to toss up the ground around you for distraction or damage, but putting that same concept into play using a squishy human as the target would cause some serious pain.

Rolo recognized this and bowed out, genuinely surprised. This was the first of their battles that Rivalz had won, and it was honestly on something of a fluke, but it was that adaptability and ingenuity that made fighting Rivalz surprisingly entertaining, as well as enlightening. His work before, in the Geass Directorate, was generally against a target who could not fight back. And so while Rolo had all of the training and a fair amount of combat experience from live practice, he had never fought someone as... wily as Rivalz was proving to be.

It wasn't that the teen was particularly _good_ at fighting; that was mostly their new bodies at play. Thoughts that weren't their own, instincts they couldn't remember developing, skills that defied logic. These things flowed through their minds freely, mingling with the untainted thoughts and memories of their own life. These new additions did not blend seamlessly, and they didn't intend to. That knowledge was freely available to them, and it was their own in many ways, but at the same time it was clearly something given to them as opposed to something they experienced.

At any rate, there was something genuinely intriguing about how well Rivalz blended those skills with his own methods. He was incredibly resourceful, even going so far as to use Rolo's discarded throwing weapons for distractions. That one stomp he'd pulled after the assassin had littered the ground with knives... it was quite spectacular to see the weapons leap from the earth back into the fray.

The Satyr had quite nearly gotten the both of them sliced up with that stunt, but it was quite ingenious to make use of his surroundings like that. A little work here and there and Rivalz could probably be a very real threat in a fight.

But at the same time, Rolo could see that same naive look that showed a total lack of combat experience. The uncomfortable way he reacted to his swings, as though he realized the weight of the lives he could potentially take. He had a lot of respect for his weapons, or perhaps for the idea of what they meant. It was clear that he was somewhat uncomfortable with the thought of just what these things could do to another person.

Rolo had a distinct feeling that the older boy knew that during their stay in this world, he would become a killer. With the setting of the world they found themselves in, it was almost certain that they would end lives. Human lives, or perhaps those of other civilized races. It was something he seemed to be expecting, and that really did say something about the teen to Rolo.

It was quite terrifying how easily Rivalz adapted to situations. Regardless of his acceptance of this new body with little more than a joke about hooves, the teen was an enormous pain to fight because he could see things others hardly noticed and make them his own. Rolo had been caught off guard several times, though this most recent mock battle had been the first he had to concede as a loss. Any others were draws at the worst.

"Right... let's stop for now." Rolo offered with a sigh. "We're getting closer and closer to actually injuring one another." Sparring in order to get a better feel for their bodies and the skills they possessed was a good idea, really... it was just also a really dangerous idea since they were using live weaponry. Thus far the worst either had suffered were light cuts and bruises, but there were too many close calls to risk anymore in his eyes.

Rivalz snorted. "Yeah, we are aren't we?" He acknowledged that much at least. With the stuff he kept pulling on the kid, Rolo was probably like two or three more matches from just going for a kill right away.

Hell, Rivalz was honestly surprised he was doing so well against the boy who had handicapped himself by limiting himself to his technique and the weapons on his person. Rolo hadn't pulled a single Rogue move out during any of their fights, whereas he had dropped a bunch of Warrior skills trying to get an advantage. Well, technically the weapons Rolo had all across his person could be considered Rogue tricks, but they weren't the nastier things that he could pull. Rivalz had read that class description briefly, and Rolo had also shown off his little stealth technique. These fights had been nothing but weapon-play from the kid.

Looking over to Nina, he couldn't help but chuckle at the rather uncomfortable look on the girl's face as she toyed with some glass phials in front of her on the ground. One of the vials had a clear liquid in it, the others were empty.

"... this is... i-incredibly disturbing." She mumbled. The clear liquid was venom. Venom that was produced inside of her body as a matter of fact. She was extremely uncomfortable with the idea of that, but curiosity had finally won out in the end and she had decided to gather some of said venom once Rivalz and Rolo got into their little mock battles off on the other end of the field.

After the three of them had reached Prime, Rivalz had immediately walked up towards one of the residents and asked where the nearest unoccupied training field would be. Said resident had replied within a matter of moments, as though this was a common question. And thus, that was where they had gone. When asked how he knew to even ask that, Rivalz had again shrugged and mentioned reading flavor text on the board. He had little factoids and excerpts for pretty much every major settlement or area.

Why he was so comfortable in this situation, Nina had no idea.

They hadn't even booked an inn yet, and it was getting close to night. They would need to locate rooms for the evening soon, but for now Nina was still busy marveling at the little glass phial in her hand, gently shaking it about and watching the liquid inside. Her mind was forthcoming with information on the venom; shortly after injection, it would begin to nauseate the target and if left untreated it would eventually begin to paralyze their body, even going on to stop the heart if left alone for too long. The nauseating effect was near instant, with the more serious issues cropping up hours later. If the venom wasn't treated within twenty four hours, death was practically guaranteed.

One major issue Nina had with this was the fact that her body was _producing_ this stuff whether or not she liked it. Furthermore, if she so desired she could inject someone with this venom with a single bite... or, alternatively, coat her arrows with the stuff. That had been the original plan before she had been dropped into this fantasy world, but now that she actually had to physically collect the venom Nina wasn't sure she was up for it.

It was uncomfortable and honestly quite humiliating to try and collect one's own venom, it seemed. Managing to slip one fang into a phial was easy enough, but the fangs produced the venom at the same time and it ended up looking like she was drooling. One bright side was that she was completely in control of herself, though, as opposed to having to get a snake to try and bite a cup.

She could probably just use two of the vials at once, one for each fang. It wasn't like she would look any sillier than she already did. The process looked ridiculous to any outside observer, she was sure.

Nina honestly wanted to test the venom just to see how effective it would be, but there was something of a shortage of live targets that she wouldn't feel bad for testing a harmful substance on. As wary as she was of Rolo, he was still a young boy and she couldn't really stomach the idea of killing him. Killing in general never sat well with her, but she'd been willing to make an exception for Zero... at least, before she had learned the truth.

Sighing, she leaned back against the small stump she had been resting up against and looked again over the training ground. It was essentially just one large clearing in the middle of a forested area with a single path leading back to the main city. Several rocks had been placed about the area, a few tree stumps remained here and there, and a few straw dummies were sat up on on end of the clearing for archery practice.

Off on the other end of the clearing, Rivalz and Rolo were now seated and chatting casually. It impressed her just how easily Rivalz adapted to this mess of a situation, since he seemed practically at home here. The younger of the two boys was still clearly uncomfortable, and Nina really could see why considering she felt the same way, but the blue haired teen didn't seem concerned at all. Either he was confident that they would return home without any issue, or he just didn't care one way or the other.

To be fair, Nina did understand some of his fascination with their situation. It was positively fantastic; the possibility of another world existing apart from their own was absolutely absurd, and yet here they were. Moreover, this entire world was something straight out of a fantasy novel, with numerous races that defied logic, creatures that couldn't exist in real life, and magic that could perform fantastic feats unheard of in their world. She would have been more enthused about all of the possibilities if they weren't trapped here for the foreseeable future with no idea how to get home and terrible, terrible secrets spilling into the light from where they had been hidden previously.

Really, at this point she was close to having a nervous break-down with all of the things she had learned today. The fact that she could produce her own fairly lethal venom was not nearly as world-shaking as the fact that one of her oldest friends was a dangerous criminal who had murdered two members of the royal family, of _his_ family. To learn that Euphemia li Britannia's death was an _accident_... if that were true, she had been living for revenge on someone who was just as much a victim as her.

No, as a matter of fact... if that were true, then Lelouch was more of a victim than her. Not only had he lost his beloved sister, he now had to live with the guilt of being her killer.

If it were true. And... really, Nina wasn't sure she wanted it to be true. She had spent her last year with a driving force that had allowed her to push past so many boundaries she had previously been unable to break through, but at the same time she had been so angry and so sad and it had hurt every time she even _looked_ at her work because it reminded her just why she had made such progress.

Revenge. It wasn't for the betterment of her country, it wasn't for the scientific pursuit of knowledge, it wasn't even just because she was bored. She wanted to kill Zero, and she was creating a weapon that would make it child's play to do so. Nina had never believed that Zero had really died that day, and her continued study and refinement of the project she had begun in school continued solely as preparation to put an end to Zero and whoever sided with him when he inevitably appeared again.

So if Zero, if _Lelouch_ , wasn't a heartless murderer... she had gone and created the most devastating weapon the world had ever known... and Britannia had the blueprints, research data, prototypes, everything they would need to finish the project with or without her. Her original intention for that entire project was for it to provide a viable alternative energy to sakuradite, but rather than follow that route she had refined it into a weapon.

She couldn't help but feel as though that decision should have garnered more opposition than it did, considering the scale of the destruction it could produce when weaponized like that.

Nina had no illusions over whether or not her homeland would be willing to use them or not, and she knew fundamentally just how horrible such a weapon was as it could take out entire cities without issue... but she hadn't cared.

As long as Zero was caught in that blast and wiped out of existence, Nina hadn't cared who else went with him.

And now she was facing the supposed truth of the matter; that her last year of life had been spent chasing revenge on Lelouch, who hadn't even meant to harm Princess Euphemia, who had lost a treasured family member that day due to something out of his control.

It wasn't a pretty reality to face.

The more Nina considered the possibility that Rolo wasn't lying, the worse she felt about how she had lived the last year of her life. Everything she had strived for became practically meaningless, and a weapon that would never have existed without her interference was now becoming closer and closer to reality.

She sighed deeply. 'I'm just a mess, aren't I?' The girl berated herself mentally. 'I fixated on Princess Euphemia after a single meeting, to the point where her death put me into such a horrible state.' Yes, Euphemia li Britannia was an angel of a girl, possibly one of the kindest people in the world, brave enough to stand up for others when she didn't need to. She had been a beacon of light in a dark world, and Nina would admit that she had admired her beyond what most people would consider normal. But looking back on it, would that same girl have gleefully ordered a massacre during her creation of the Specially Administrated Zone of Japan?

No, never. So, then, why had she done just that? Either Lelouch had forcibly manipulated her into it using that power he possessed, or it was an accident.

The worst part was that Nina couldn't convince herself that the first was even plausible. Nothing she knew about Lelouch would make her think that he would willingly order the slaughter of the men and women gathered for the SAZ, let alone ordering his sister to do it. It was so easy to believe that the whole incident was just a mistake.

And that positively _killed_ her, because she couldn't justify her actions anymore. Everything she had done in the name of killing Zero for his hand in Euphemia's death... Nina couldn't see herself as being in the right anymore.

"So..." Rivalz' voice echoed out, drawing the bespectacled girl from her thoughts. "We should probably find ourselves some rooms for the night; let's gather our stuff up and head back into town."

That sounded nice, she admitted. Really, she was sleepy. It was just because she was too nervous to be on her own right now that she had agreed to come out to this field with the two as they tested their capabilities. Her own experimenting with her venom was just something to keep her mind off of things... and it hadn't worked well.

Nina collected her vials quickly, placing them into her bag and corking the half-filled vial. Standing, she dusted herself off lightly before straightening the strap of her bag over her shoulder. Managing to keep her voice steady, if only just, the girl spoke. "Yes, let's do that. I'm tired." Though she doubted her sleep would be peaceful tonight...

Rolo sighed lightly as he made his way over to the two of them. 'Rivalz... I suppose he would be a friend of mine as well.' During his mission to guard and potentially slay Zero, the boy had never given though to his interactions with the other members of the council. And he hadn't wanted to think too heavily on how Lelouch had treated him either, as it would lead to issues with his mission... and he had been one hundred percent correct in that thought, seeing as how that was the reason his big brother had turned him to his side.

But now that he had joined with Lelouch, and now that said teen had taken the time to try and fix some of what was wrong with him, Rolo had thought a bit on his interactions with the rest of the council members.

It was... nice. Where Lelouch had treated him as a sibling and directed all of the love and care he had for his unknown little sister to him as a substitute, the other council members had no such obligation to treat him well. He was just a kid they knew, the little brother of their vice president.

But despite that, they had been kind to him. Milly had included him in all of her wacky plans, Shirley had doted on him because he was the youngest of them, Rivalz had always treated him like a close friend, with light-hearted roughhousing included.

Rolo genuinely regretted all of the times he had nearly snapped the older boy's neck on instinct. It was a good thing that Rivalz had shocked him so much the first time otherwise he may have reacted before realizing what was going on, though later on as he sort of got used to the playful headlocks and other various "attacks" on his person he had been less inclined to cause harm to the blue haired teen.

Altogether, Rolo had begun to think on his relationship with the council lately, rather than just his big brother. It felt nice to know that, to them, he had always just been Rolo, rather than a spy or an assassin, or even just as Lelouch's younger brother. They genuinely appreciated him for being himself, or at least the self he had become for his mission.

He'd been denied even the simple joy of companionship from a young age, even among his peers. There was never any care for each other in that place; they were each just tools ready to be used, even if that use was to throw away a less useful tool. Even if that "tool" was one they had spent their entire life with. Friendship didn't exist in the Directorate, not for them.

Gulping at the thought, a bit of guilt began to gnaw at Rolo. He was free now, able to be his own person. It was difficult to adapt his mentality to being something other than a cold blooded killer, but it brought a wonderfully liberating feeling to his chest each time he did or said something of his own free will.

He had acted without his big brother's guidance; he may have made a mistake, or he may have brought two allies to his brother's side. One way or another, it had been his decision to do so. And that felt so _good_.

But what about the others? They were still shells of themselves. Almost all of them were even younger than him. Could he simply leave them to their fate?

Yes, yes he could. But a part of him wanted those broken children to be fixed, to become more than tools as he had. They deserved that chance, didn't they? They were just like him, none of those children had chosen to be put into their situation.

The fuzzy memories came to the forefront of his mind. Still he saw no clear images, heard no clear sounds, but one thing stuck with him; it had been so warm, so comfortable, he felt like he could simply wrap himself up in that feeling and fall into a deep, restful sleep. Just the thought of it brought a content smile to his lips.

"Yo, Rolo. You okay?" Rivalz asked casually as the trio began their departure from the training field into the main city, the blue haired teen walking leisurely with his arms behind his head as he regarded the smaller boy. "Stuff on your mind?" The kid looked really conflicted over something, and really it was kind of uncomfortable for a couple of reasons.

One, Rolo was a pretty nice kid from his interactions with him over the year they had known one another and he was rather fond of him. And two, Rolo was also a sociopath and a cold blooded killer, so seeing random expressions flash by on his face was kind of disconcerting.

"... I'm thinking about the others like me." Rolo admitted after a moment of thought, deciding to confide his thoughts in Rivalz as his big brother wasn't around to offer any advice. "I wasn't the only child trained to be a mindless soldier; there were quite a few of us. Most younger than me." His frown deepened. "It's not safe for them to exist like that, and the easiest way remove that threat would be to just kill them." He admitted that much at least.

Those kids were younger than him and had less actual field experience, let alone the year of full-blast affection and attention he had received at the hands of a doting elder brother. In a lot of ways, those children would be more difficult to fix. "... but as I said, they're younger than me. And it wasn't their decision that left them like that."

Normally, Rolo probably wouldn't have cared so much about this. But the memories... the knowledge that he could have lived another life if not for the Emperor or the Order. Perhaps it affected him more than he originally suspected, because he was feeling a lot more... human, he supposed. It was odd and hard to explain, but perhaps reliving that brief flash of emotion and warmth had a profound effect on his psyche. It was an addition of something that he never knew he had lost.

"T-that's right..." Nina chimed in quietly. "T-there's an organization out there turning children into weapons..." That was horrifying. What was wrong with their world? Things like that were just not right. "... and to just kill them would be wrong." But even she could see how a slew of emotionless assassin children with supernatural powers could cause issues.

Rolo nodded. "Yes. It would be wrong from a moral standpoint." He agreed, letting out a breath. "I'm not the most morally sound human being in the world, but I can admit that. I don't _want_ to kill them. They're all just like me." None of them took any joy from their training or their work. They weren't really capable of it. Life consisted of nothing more than training, missions, and the upkeep that one needed to remain healthy enough for training and missions. Some went through experiments with the scientists... and they didn't always come back.

No one gave it a second thought.

They were nothing but little robots for V.V.'s machinations, pawns to be used and thrown away as he saw fit. It wasn't a fate he wanted, and the more he considered it the more Rolo wanted to do something for the others.

"So what do you think you should do with them?" Rivalz asked lightly, a small smirk on his lips as he noted the conflict on the boy's face once more. A single year of masquerading as Lelouch's little brother had pretty much uprooted the basis of who knows how much conditioning in this boy, and it was definitely interesting to see.

Now the kid was thinking for himself, and it was kind of amazing to see the contrast it had with his memories. It only just occurred to Rivalz that Rolo had almost never made suggestions himself during the year they knew one another, instead allowing Lelouch to offer something and just going along with it.

And here was that same boy not too much later, mind running a mile a minute over something so far removed from the current situation at hand.

Surprising the two teens who had looked towards the young assassin for his answer, the boy in question released a slightly embarrassed cough and a tiny flush crossed his cheeks. "... I... think..." Shaking his head, the boy gave a small, bemused laugh. "This is going to sound ridiculous, but I think I want them to be a part of our family." Seeing the stunned blinks this drew, Rolo elaborated. "Er... mine and big brother's. He... well, he's treated me so well, and I'd like to think the others deserve that as well..." Especially if their chance at a family had been stolen from them by those who made use of their lives with no regard for them. "... it's silly, but... well... I think they would like it."

Rivalz couldn't help but laugh a bit at that answer. It was surprisingly childish. "I bet Lelouch would enjoy that." Man, he could just imagine the dark haired ice prince of Ashford Academy with a whole slew of children. Lelouch Lamperouge; student council vice president, exiled prince of Britannia, masked vigilante wielding a mysterious power... and babysitter. "You sure you'd be willing to share your big brother like that though?" The Satyr asked teasingly.

Rolo frowned. "As much as I would like big brother's undivided affection, I realize that just isn't going to happen. One day he'll have Nunnally back, and honestly that thought terrifies me." He didn't believe his big brother would abandon him for his real sibling, not when he could simply have them both. But at the same time, that little speck of doubt remained. "But I've chosen to believe he won't abandon me no matter what. I've accepted that other people are close to his heart. It's not like I can just kill everyone he's ever known and keep him to myself." The boy chuckled at the rather odd looks this earned him, as his rather dark humor was delivered with the same tone one would use when talking about the weather.

"... considering what I now know of your background, Rolo, that is honestly a very creepy thing to say." Rivalz admitted. Off to his side, Nina could be seen giving an uncomfortable look to the teenage career killer. "But carry on with your point."

The younger boy did so sheepishly, having honestly considered that option once or twice early on after being turned to Lelouch's side. "Well, I've moved past the fact that big brother isn't just mine alone. And if I'm already sharing him with so many other people..." His sister, his friends on the council, C.C., the Black Knights. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to have a few more siblings." Especially since they would be _his_ siblings as well. In a lot of ways, that was an exciting prospect.

That was one of the few things that he could use to comfort himself with Lelouch's plans to reunite with Nunnally. Rolo hoped that the girl would accept him, that she wouldn't be opposed to him being a part of their family. According to what he'd learned of her from Lelouch, the princess wouldn't be against the idea... but if, by some chance, she were... well, Rolo didn't like to think about that. It fed that speck of doubt, made it bigger.

He didn't need that.

"Y'know, that's honestly a really weird outlook to have." Rivalz offered with a snicker, ignoring the perturbed expression it drew from Rolo. "But, really, that's not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, I kind of agree with you. Having a huge family sounds like a ton of fun to me." He was an only child, himself, so there were many times he'd wished for a sibling or two to lighten the boredom he faced growing up.

But, well, online video games did wonders for that once he got to an age where he could appreciate them properly. Shortly after that, he'd made good friends in the council and between those things he'd pretty much been set. Still, though, Rivalz could only imagine how much more amusing it would've been if he wasn't practically alone during most of his early childhood years.

Nina sighed from off to the side. "... does it not b-bother you at all, Rivalz, t-that we're stuck inside of a fantasy w-world with an assassin who w-was posing as L-Lelouch's little brother as our c-companion? Or t-that one of our oldest friends is Z-Z-Zero?" She could hardly get that name out, with all the emotion just thinking it even caused. Rivalz was way too calm about this, and honestly in a lot of ways it kind of scared her.

The bespectacled girl squeaked as a friendly arm was thrown over her shoulder, a reassuring grin directed towards her. "Nina, I'm just as freaked out about this as you, don't think otherwise. But... well, I'm trying to see the positives." Really, if he worried too much on all the weird circumstances right now it would drive him insane. "I'm gonna take this a step at a time; Rolo is a friend. His role as Lelouch's watcher put him into the spot of Lelouch's little brother. Now, I'm sure you remember how Lelouch treated Nunnally?"

Nodding, the girl replied. "Y-yes... he treated her like she was the most important t-thing in the world."

"And that's how he treated Rolo. For a year straight. He was just as bad as he used to be." Rivalz rolled his eyes. "It was bad enough when we all thought he was a siscon; but a brocon? The rumor mills ran wild until he went ballistic... again. Looking back, it's like deja vu. Just with a different rumor-monger."

Despite herself, the girl couldn't help but giggle a bit. Back when they had all been on the council, there were constant rumors that Lelouch's cold disposition to the girls he attracted was because he and Nunnally were so close. It had gotten out of hand at one point when someone had insinuated that the siblings were much closer than most would deem appropriate.

Well, the long story short of that was that Lelouch was _far_ from pleased by the insinuation that he had ever done anything inappropriate to his little sister. In his outrage, he'd hunted down the perpetrator of that particular rumor and given them a piece of his mind.

Needless to say, such rumors were no longer circulated throughout Ashford Academy... though the extreme reaction honestly strengthened many people's suspicions. They were just wise enough to keep such thoughts to themselves.

"Right! So back to my point." Rivalz continued while he had the girl's mood up past the sulking point. "Basically, despite the fact that I should for all intents and purposes be terrified about Rolo being an assassin trained from childhood, I've also had the opportunity to see him turn into a pile of jelly underneath Lelouch's doting. No amount of acting could replicate that." Seriously. It was absolutely hilarious to watch Rolo fidget and blush as his big brother lavished his affections onto him, as though he was uncomfortable with just how much he enjoyed being pampered. "So I'm pretty much at the point where I'll believe Rolo isn't a threat to us, since his big brother wanted us all to get along."

Rolo chimed in. "... while he put it differently than I would have, Rivalz is right. I really don't mean either of you any harm. I know you're going to have a hard time believing me since, to you, I'm just some random boy you've met just hours prior." Really, the fact that Rivalz was taking this so well was an absolute godsend. "I understand that you're wary of me. I'll try my best not to make you any more uncomfortable than I have already."

Nina sighed. "... t-this is such a mess." Things had spiraled out of control so quickly. "For now, I'll believe you. You're right; I'm wary of you. No, honestly, I'm downright t-terrified of you." Rolo was the epitome of unknown right now, and that was extremely far out of the scientist's comfort zone. "B-but I'll carry on. I n-need to talk with Lelouch." She absolutely had to. That was the only way all of her questions could be answered for sure.

"Yeah, on that topic." Rivalz began again. "Lelouch being Zero? I'm also freaked out about it. Immensely. My best buddy turns out to be the masked terrorist who threw Area Eleven into chaos?" Man, the odds that of all the people in this world that could be behind that mask, it was the guy he had known for years? Astronomical. And yet, there they were. "But, Lelouch is Lelouch one way or another. He's got his reasons for everything he does." Everything. Even if something was done seemingly on a whim, there was almost always some deeper reasoning.

In that same vein, there was one thing that came to mind specifically that he had always wondered about. But, now it all made sense. "Say, Nina." The blue haired teen began gently, well aware that he may be treading into a minefield. Seeing he had the girl's attention, and further that his tone had concerned her somewhat, Rivalz continued. "Well... you remember the hotel jacking, right?" Obviously she would, but the sudden flinch confirmed it more than even the following nod would. "You know that even though Princess Euphemia stood up for you all, Zero was the reason the hostages were saved?"

The girl nodded stiffly. It wasn't something she had liked to admit, especially after the death of the princess, but a fact was a fact. A lump formed in her throat as a realization hit her. "... h-he did it for us..." She mumbled out, suddenly feeling weak in the knees as that thought occurred to her.

Why _had_ Zero stepped in that night to save the hostages? It did get him some publicity, and it served as a platform to reveal his Black Knights to the world and to show off his ability, but at the same time it never really made much sense as to why a terrorist would go out of their way to save Britannian citizens from those who would normally be considered their allies.

Among the hostages, there was no one even remotely important aside from Princess Euphemia, who had been there in secret. So was that publicity really worth such a large risk, facing down Cornelia's forces and the JLF at the same time? It didn't really add up, but most people simply chalked it up to Zero's rather peculiar outlook as a "knight for justice".

With the knowledge that the man behind that mask was Lelouch, things all made sense. He hadn't done that to further his goals as Zero, he used his means as Zero in order to save his friends from a dangerous situation. He had just twisted the events that night in such a way that he benefited doubly from them, having saved the hostages and introduced the Black Knights to the world.

In the end, while Princess Euphemia had saved them from the immediate threat of the soldiers who had awful intentions towards the three of them... Zero had been the one to really _save_ them.

It wasn't thanks to Euphemia li Britannia that the remaining hostages had made it home that night, but thanks to _Zero._ And while before Nina had considered that to be nothing but a coincidence brought on by his goals in the campaign against her homeland, now it became clear to her that the objective had been entirely different from what she had believed.

That night, Lelouch had acted in order to save the lives of his friends.

It was getting harder and harder for Nina to believe that Zero was the villain she had made him out to be.

* * *

Beneath the clear night sky and settled against a sturdy tree in a lesser traveled, more wooded area of town one could find a pair of teenagers enjoying the warm evening air and one another's presence in silence.

Despite the clear comfort the two had with one another, as the younger girl was practically glued to the older boy's side, there was something of a tense air about them.

The older of them, a Snow Elf dressed in varying shades of grey and black, ran a hand through his white locks with a sigh, eyes turning to regard the girl he was relaxing with.

Unconcerned with the tension in the air, the pink haired Fae girl simply continued to nuzzle into the side of the elf. "... you feel nice." It was rather hot in this swamp, so the fact that her preferred snuggling partner had a built in cooling system was great. He would't be the best for keeping one warm in the mountains, though. She pressed her cheek further against the side of his chest, releasing a content sigh.

Unable to hold back his humor at that, the elf cracked a small grin. "I suppose you would be the expert on that." This girl had spent most of their day attached to him in some way. The good humor died after a moment, as Lelouch decided to just get to the matter at hand. "Anya..." He was cut off, surprisingly, by the girl moving suddenly.

Changing their positions, the girl had managed to quickly shuffle from his side into his lap, straddling him with her face only a few inches from his own. A pair of delightful rubies sparkled at him, a playful smirk coming to the pinkette's lips as her actions had immediately put a stop to whatever Lelouch had been ready to say. "I know who you are, what you've done..." She mumbled out, throwing her arms around the teen and pulling herself closer to him, burying her face in his neck affectionately. "And I don't care." Anya announced matter-of-factly. "You're still Lulu." _Her_ Lulu, who she'd lost for years. Memories that were the highlight of her life ripped from her mercilessly. And now, she had them back. Had _him_ back. Anything else was irrelevant.

Relenting somewhat in his grim demeanor, the teen brought his own arms around the younger girl with an exasperated sigh. "You're doing your level best to keep this from being a serious conversation, you know." He accused with a small smile. This wasn't how he had expected this "talk" to go in the slightest. She was quite clearly aware of his identity as Zero, but rather than talking about it she was point blank declaring that there was nothing to talk about.

"I. Don't. Care." Anya replied in a deadpan tone. "I've been used like a puppet for around half of my life, Lulu. I killed people without a second thought, just because I was told to. Nothing I've done in my entire life since I lost you and Nunna has been of my own free will." She found herself growling at the thought, anger seeping into her tone. "Every! Single! Decision! All of it was based on _someone elses whims_!" The girl was nearly yelling at this point, but it was muffled as she was still nuzzled into his neck, taking comfort in the fact that she actually had someone who would let her have this. "... I'm angry, Lulu. I'm so angry." Tears pricked at her eyes as she thought back on all the time she lost.

How much of her life would be different if she had been able to decide for herself? Where would she be? Would she have just faded into obscurity? Who knows? It didn't matter, because none of that had happened. She'd been made into a perfect little soldier ready to be set loose on whatever enemies the Emperor saw, while serving as the container for his precious wife's consciousness. Anya Alstreim may as well have been dead, because she was unable to change anything in her life.

Lelouch understood, to a degree. He had been forced to waste an entire year as someone he wasn't, with no inkling that there was another existence hiding beneath his mundane life. An entire year had been squandered thanks to the machinations of Charles zi Britannia and his lackies, and his fate was meant to be nothing more than bait for one of his closest confidantes to eventually bite.

But thankfully, C.C. bit harder than expected _._ The woman had been around far too long to let such an obvious trap catch her, and instead she had given him the means to turn the cage of his life into a fortress from which he could plot his rebellion once more. Thanks to her, Lelouch had regained all of the memories that had been stolen from him, the meaning had returned to his life.

Anya was experiencing that at least ten times over. Rather than a year, nearly half of her life had been spent in a lucid haze as someone else directed her actions. She had been little more than a spectator in her own body. And it was all due to his parents. Even if his mother had escaped her demise in a sense by possessing Anya, the simple fact that she had willingly _used_ her body like a tool was incredibly damning. His mother had been a soldier, one of the best, and so even Lelouch had realized she wasn't always as kind and wonderful as her children and close friends saw. It would take a fool to be blinded to that degree.

... but she was his mother, so Lelouch allowed himself to pretend.

The time for deluding himself had long since passed, however. His mother still deserved the vengeance he had been seeking for her murder, but the image he'd built up of her was becoming more and more realistic as time passed.

Having a young girl sobbing in his lap because her entire life may as well have been a lie was enough of a reality check to shatter the saintly image Lelouch's mother had always held in his mind.

Much like himself or even his wretched father, Marianne vi Britannia was just another human being.

Unable to comfort the girl as he normally would, seeing as how the mail armor made it rather hard to rub her back, Lelouch had move one hand to the girl's head to gently stroke her hair, leaning back some to allow her a more comfortable position. "Shh... it's fine, Anya. For now, _you_ are all that matters to me."

What little restraint the girl had broke. Her quiet sobs were muffled against his neck, but to Lelouch there wasn't any way they could have been more clear. Anya had been through far more than she deserved. For all intents and purposes, the girl in his arms was still that same shy little thing that had arrived to the Aries Villa for lessons with his mother. Nothing after that point had been up to her, none of the actions she had taken were really of her own volition. They were just the plans of others being carried out through her.

So Lelouch would let her get out all of the pent up emotions, he would hold her as long as she wanted. This was her time.

They stayed like that for several minutes, with the blue skinned teen gently caressing the hair of the sniffling pinkette as she snuggled into his chest, having shifted herself into a sitting position in his lap with her face nuzzled into his collar. By that point, Anya had gotten most of the tears out of her system and was now just enjoying the affection.

That had been the first time in a very long time Anya had cried. The last time had been when she was a child in the Aries Villa and had scraped her knee playing with Nunnally.

Much like the situation here, Lelouch had been the one to comfort her back then as well. He'd been looking over the two as they played, out of breath from his own inclusion in the game. As he rested, she had tripped and bloodied her knee in her fall.

Anya still didn't know how Lelouch had gotten over to them so fast, or how his fatigue seemed to disappear instantly the moment one of them was hurt. Almost as soon as the first sob ripped from her throat, she had been pulled into the arms of the young prince as comforted her. She couldn't help but smile at the memory, as Lelouch had surprised both her and Nunnally by carrying band-aids and rubbing alcohol to disinfect the scrape. A giggle snuck out of her as she recalled kicking the boy in her surprise at the sudden sting of the alcohol, and the dry look he had shot towards his younger sister as she rolled on the ground in laughter.

Noticing her sudden amusement, the boy holding her couldn't help but ask. "Just what has you so cheerful all of a sudden?"

"I'm remembering that time I accidentally kicked your head when we were little." Anya replied bluntly, stifling another giggle.

Lelouch gave her a dry look that she couldn't help but feel mirrored that of his younger self. "I certainly hope that won't happen every time you come to me for comfort." He'd just been cleaning the scrape with some alcohol as the girl had fallen in one of the gardens, he hadn't wanted it to get infected. And she kicked him. It wasn't on purpose, really, but he had told her that part would sting and to be ready for it.

Oh, she'd been ready alright. He could remember that one clear as day, and the sound of Nunnally's boisterous laughter in reaction and the mortified look the pink haired girl had after realizing what she'd done brought a small smile to his lips. "You two were so much trouble." But despite that, it was trouble that brought a lot of meaning to his younger years; he wouldn't have traded those two and their antics for anything in the world.

"But we were _your_ trouble." Anya replied cutely, rubbing her cheek against the boy affectionately.

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Lelouch gave his own response with a warm smile. "Yes, and you still are." He wasn't losing this girl again, not after all she had been put through.

Anya shifted slightly, turning her eyes up towards his own. "... Lulu..." She began, tone more serious than before. "If... if we get out of here, and I'm... not me again." The girl shivered at the thought, clearly terrified that they would one day leave this world and she would find her freedom stolen once again. "I want you to use that power and make me yours."

Frowning at both the implication and the wording she had used, Lelouch sighed deeply. "I couldn't do that to you, Anya..." She wanted him to use his power to subjugate her even further, use her as a tool for himself. How could he do that to her?

"I _want_ you too, Lulu." She pressed on firmly, narrowing her eyes at him. "I've been thinking about this all day. If I have to be a puppet, I want you to be pulling the strings." Her entire life up until this point had been spent as a perfect hiding spot for Marianne vi Britannia's consciousness, someone who could be deployed to make use of the skill that rubbed off on her from the Empress' mind but who would be far removed enough that he could call her whenever he needed. Anya could describe her life up until today as having been on auto-pilot.

If she was going to go back to being a tool, she wanted to be used by someone who cared for her. With Lelouch's Geass, he could command her to follow his orders without question, make her obey his every demand. Hopefully that would restrain his mother from retaking her body if it came to that. If her body was going to be subjugated to the whims of someone else, she wanted it to be him in control of her and no one else.

She didn't want to go back to being the Emperor's puppet, valued as nothing more than a container for someone else's mind.

"What's to say you'll go back to that in the first place?" Lelouch asked, tightening his grip on her. "And even if you do, what's to say I can't find a cure for it?" He grit his teeth at the idea that Anya found it preferable to be a Geassed slave than to live the life she had before. Had that existence truly been so terrible? It would seem so considering she clearly knew what his Geass could do to a person. "No, I won't do that to you Anya. I _can't_ do that." Seeing her flinch at the declaration, Lelouch calmed himself and leaned his head on top of her own. "I swear, Anya, I won't let you stay like that. If you end up like you were before today, I will find a way to bring you back. I promise."

Anya couldn't help but smile. "... you know, this is why I love you Lulu. You're the best." She was still scared that her life would go back to that shell of an existence, but Lelouch would keep his promise if that was the case. Just hearing him say it was enough to reassure her.

As the girl began to fall back into the simple pleasure of being held, a harsh rustling noise came from the brush nearby. The area they were in was a more heavily forested part of town, still within the walls but not very populated. It served as something of a park, with a few clearings cleared out here and there.

Blinking, the duo looked towards the noise to see if someone had stumbled upon them at random. The surprise turned to alarm as they realized just what had stumbled out of the brush.

A lizardman, it had to be. There was no other way to describe this creature, standing upright but with a notable hunch. It was covered in head to toe with dark green scales, scars littering it's body. It wore nothing but a loin cloth made of tattered leather, as well as some scattered feathers across it's form. Behind the creature was a long, thick tail, which looked powerful enough to break bones. At the end of the tail, there was a fist sized stone tied to it, forming a crude mace of sorts.

It's claws were razor sharp and solid black, gleaming in the moonlight with some sort of liquid. It's mouth opened wide, releasing a furious hissing noise as it began to mumble in it's own language, making threatening gestures with it's claws. The creature's eyes were a bright yellow, with slit pupils so thin they were practically nonexistent, and it's fangs were a putrid yellow color. A long tongue would flick out occasionally, seemingly tasting the air like a snake, before returning to the creature's maw.

All in all, it was a very ugly beast if one were to ask Lelouch. And not particularly friendly either judging by it's stance and the glare being leveled at the pair as the creature began to stalk towards them, somewhat cautiously.

Frankly, it should have just come at them full blast. That would probably have made things more difficult for the seated teens.

Lelouch brought one hand up, the one not currently occupied with stroking Anya's hair, and pointed his index and middle finger towards the creature.

Seeing the movement, the lizardman immediately roared before throwing any sense of caution to the wind and rushing forward madly.

It tripped immediately, it's body suddenly not responding properly. It's muscles were suddenly stiff, not wanting to act as it told them to. As the creature fell to the ground, it's harsh landing throwing bits of dirt into the air, it began to flail uselessly in an attempt to stand once more. Behind it, the tail that had been moving fluidly was now standing ramrod straight.

"... That is a surprisingly effective curse." Lelouch mumbled, impressed by the spell he had cast. It was instinctual, and so he really hadn't known for sure it would work despite his mind assuring him such. But seeing the results, he couldn't deny that these curses had some serious power behind them. Though that was in part due to his character's stats.

Muscle Lock was an aptly named curse as it essentially created an effect similar to that of rigor mortis in varying severity on the target. More powerful creatures could ignore the curse to a degree, some would boast near immunity or would simply not care if they were hit with it. The lizardman was not one of such creatures, nor did it have any real ability to resist the curse. Resistance to such things was often determined with mental strength... and, well, it was fairly obvious that this creature was not a bastion of willpower.

A second later, the lizardman staring down death as Anya had un-holstered her shotgun.

With a rather ferocious look on her face, the teen took aim for a split second before pulling the trigger. With a furious bang, the gun unloaded it's ammunition into the skull of the downed lizard, penetrating the scales with ease and ending the futile flailing of the beast immediately as it's head ceased to exist. As the creature passed, the curse ended and it's limbs relaxed, falling to the ground lifelessly.

"... we were having a moment." The girl growled out furiously, not pleased in the slightest at having her Lulu time interrupted by what was basically a rabid monster. And now they would have to find somewhere else to go, as the corpse kind of ruined the mood. She holstered the weapon once more with a sigh, before squeaking in surprise as she was lifted bridal style by the teen she had been using as a seat.

Lelouch sighed. "Well, that was certainly something. I suppose this is as good a time as any to head back to Gino." He announced, looking down to the girl in his arms to see if she had anything to say to that.

Shaking her head, Anya decided to just make the best of the situation and picked up her cuddling where it had left off. "You're gonna carry me, right?" She asked.

"Of course. You did say you wanted to be spoiled, after all." Lelouch replied immediately with a smirk.

Anya nodded. "Then I don't care where you take me." As long as he held her like this, they could be walking to the gates of Hell for all she cared.

"I wonder how Gino's night has gone since we left?" Lelouch asked as he began to leave the clearing, idly wondering just where the lizardman had come from. The guard was on high alert, and so the walls were guarded all over. Perhaps he would report the attack to someone tomorrow, or even tonight if he ran across a guard on the way to the inn.

The girl in his arms shrugged lackadaisically. "Probably not doing anything important." She noted.

"Of course not; it's Gino. When does he ever actually accomplish things?" Lelouch joked back.

Once they arrived at the inn, they would later find that Gino had, in fact, accomplished something.

He won a game of darts.

* * *

Champions of Geiis: World Notes

 **Necromancers; A Rant From Someone Who Knows More than You**

 _Necromancers, those men and women who manipulate the dead to do their bidding. Ask just about anyone you come across just what they thought of these casters of dark magic, and you would probably be on the receiving end of some hate-filled spiel about how the practice of such evil magics was unacceptable and yadda yadda bla bla bla._

 _Allow me to inform you, oh dear reader, of the truth of the matter. Necromancers are not evil. I'll let that one sink in for a moment._

 _Yes, we are **not** the bad guys in this storybook we call life. Now, let me elaborate; not all of us are the bad guys. Some are. But, then, some Warriors or Rogues or Sorcerers or Shamans or Priests or whatever the hell else you can name can be the bad guy just as well as a Necromancer. It's not some universally evil profession, and that thought process is ignorance at it's finest._

 _And I know what you're thinking; "But oh perilously suave and handsome author, how can one justify the manipulation of the dead? Surely such a thing is the pinnacle of evil?" If I was right, then please take a moment and slap yourself. Again. Good, good, we're done with that for now. Did you manage to slap the stupid out of yourself? Excellent._

 _Evil is subjective. If someone calls up a horde of zombies and sics them on a nearby town to pillage and plunder to their weaselly black heart's content? Well, that's pretty damn evil isn't it? I won't even try to defend that; anyone who did something of that sort would be a completely evil son of a bitch._

 _News for you; that doesn't happen every damn day. It's actually quite rare in most places. Unless you're some kind of idiot and actually live in the Cursedwoods, you can safely bet that your village and or house is not going to be overrun by zombies on any given day._

 _So, we've covered the bad guy. He's going to send an army of dead things at your doorstep, kill you, and then use you as one of the dead things he sends at your neighbor. Because he's kind of an asshole like that._

 _Now, let's move on to the more moderate kind of Necromancer; which, more often than not, will be the one you meet. Because, you know, there are kind of a lot of them._

 _This kind of Necromancer will raise the dead; yes, I know, evil, boo hoo. Now, get that stupid out of your system again. I'll wait. You back? Good, let's continue. Now, they do raise dead people to do things for them. Because that is how we do things. I mean, we could just rely on curses and black magic to try and subdue our foes, pursue our goals, and all around live our lives... but, you know, that kind of defeats the purpose of being a Necromancer._

 _Why do we use the dearly departed as tools for our own ends? Because it's **effective**. Zombies make excellent meat shields and footsoldiers, mutating undead into abominations works wonders for defeating that pesky bandit leader who slices through your meat-shields one after another, and the souls and spirits of the dead can provide information enough to save hundreds of men from walking to their doom. We do what we do because it's **practical**. I don't know about you, but I rather like being alive; it looks much more entertaining than the alternative._

 _And I assure you, being in my profession I've seen a lot of the alternative to life._

 _Anyway. Back on topic. So the moderate Necromancer raises dead things to do things. More often than not, they're pursuing their own goals. Which can be anything from fortune and fame to redemption to revenge to boredom to just plain being a nice guy and trying to make the world better for everyone who isn't, you know, dead._

 _And some who are dead come to think of it. You wouldn't believe how many spirits stick around this world for whatever reason._

 _So, I mentioned a "nice guy" a second ago. Let's give an example. You remember the asshole with the zombie horde who killed your wife, child, friends, and dog? Yeah. He's here again after you, right? So let's say you're sniveling before the mutated husk that was once your wife, and she's about to take a bite out of you._

 _Suddenly that undead monstrosity is locked in combat with another abomination, and you can't for the life of you figure out why. The big bad scary Necromancer looks surprised as well._

 _You're spirited away from the scene all of a sudden, looking around to realize that a ghostly form has lifted you from the ground and is escorting you to safety. Below you, in the chaos, you can see zombies, skeletons, all kinds of spooks and ghosties just duking it out in the ruins of what was once your home._

 _You're wondering "How? Did the Necromancer lose control?" and the answer is "No, you idiot. There's another one saving your dumb asses." which you would probably know if you saw the other hooded fellow waving his hands about and shouting orders at the dead things. He's not doing that because it's fun, you know._

 _Now, see what I mean? Not all Necromancers are bad guys. That one is risking his hide for your sorry self, you should feel ashamed because you lumped him in with the guy who just destroyed another village with a horde of zombies._

 _Go ahead. Feel bad. You deserve it._

 _- **Excerpt From "Understanding Necromancers"**_

* * *

AN: Okay. So it's done. Again, very little action. I know, and I'm sorry. I'm working towards the build-up for something but I do have to sort of cover everyone's bases.

So! Jeremiah is here in all of his awesomeness. Nina, Rivalz, and Rolo are exploring their bodies and the various quirks that come with them... well mostly Nina and Rivalz since Rolo is a human and is fairly normal. Shirley and Milly met with the Knight of Orange himself and are traveling with him for the moment since another warm body makes the trip much less difficult, Suzaku is interacting with the natives, and Lelouch's group is kind of doing their own thing.

Stuff happened here and set us up for other stuff to happen down the line, and C.C. and Kaguya didn't quite make it into this chapter. But rest assured, they will be included next chapter. Next chapter will, also, probably include some actual combat.

Someone asked me to try and provide more insight into the world our cast finds themselves in; I've decided to do so by including some little extras to try and flesh out the world a bit. These will take the form of various things at chapter's end that can be considered sort of... uh.. well, I don't know. Maybe like little side-stories and whatnot, or just pages ripped from books across the world, or whatever. Just expect one of these at each chapter's end in addition to me trying to flesh out the world in the story above.

I hope that everyone gets a kick of out these little excerpts as we move on. First one was on necromancy, which is something regarded as a touchy subject for most in this world.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm sort of on a roll with this, I suppose. My intent here is to at least try and get into something sort of interesting this chapter as opposed to the gigantic line of character development and introductions that the last three chapters have been. My goal here is to have at least one actual fight scene that lasts more than two paragraphs (the murderization of the lizardman last chapter was quick and brutal; hardly a fight, but understandable as it was basically just a rabid animal that saw something to attack.)

With that being said; disclaimer time. I don't own Code Geass or anything else I may or may not weasel into this story.

* * *

Roland liked to think of himself as a fairly decent fellow. He wasn't overly aggressive, didn't submit too heavily to any of the vices other men fell victim to, he was moderately intelligent, especially considering the lack of any real formal schooling, and he was a loving father who worked hard to provide for his children and wife, so he could enjoy what time he had with them to the fullest.

He had joined the guard as a boy after losing his parents in one of the many lizard attacks that were so common in the swamps, with the goal of doing his best to make sure no one else had to lose something precious... as well as to satisfy a desire for vengeance that had never quite disappeared, but was well in hand. After working his way up through the ranks, Roland had become a rather well respected guardsmen, afforded much more free time with good enough pay to keep his family afloat without much trouble due to his rise up the ladder. As of now, he was one of the four Captains of the Guard, a position that was just below the highest, that being the Commander of the Guard.

The Captains were each charged with the protection of one city quarter, and his was the Residential quarter. It could be argued this was the most important area to defend, seeing as how the townspeople that were Willowgreens' lifeblood resided here. But, Roland was never one to be concerned with that. It was simply convenient as his post left him in the same place as his family more often than not, and he would frequently see them out and about as he was on patrol.

So, yes, Roland liked to think he was a decent enough person. He was content with his lot in life, and he took his job very seriously. The safety of his people came before anything else, as his family was included in their ranks.

That was probably why he was actually bothering to listen to the Snow Elf in front of him, who's side was occupied by a young Fae girl, as he informed him of the events of the previous night. Early as it was, the sun had only just begun to rise, the Captain was honestly somewhat surprised that either of these two were up and about considering their age, as he was used to teens waking as late as possible, but that wasn't particularly relevant.

"You're telling me..." Roland began, idly rubbing his stubbly beard. "That the Residential Quarter was infiltrated by a lizardman last night, and that you were attacked by it?" The man was garbed in the usual outfit of the town guard, well-worn mail armor. His hands and feet were covered with equally worn gauntlets and sabatons, and over his shoulders was a short green cloak with gold embroidery at the edges. His face was somewhat plain, with a single noticeable scar going down his right cheek. The man's hair was roughly shoulder length and dark, though not quite black, pulled back into a ponytail in order to keep it manageable.

The teenage looking elf nodded. "Yes, we managed to kill it without much trouble, but I felt that you should be made aware."

Looking the duo over, Roland could tell that the elven boy was dangerous. Something about him seemed disconcerting, like he was the predator in the room and everyone else his prey. With so little information on him, as the boy was a traveler who had arrived only the night prior, the Captain of the Guard was somewhat concerned about the story.

Lizardman attacks were serious business; it couldn't be emphasized enough that those blasted creatures were the main reason that anyone around Willowgreens lost their life. They were vicious, violent, and cruel creatures. Far from being animals, though, as they did have their own tribal civilization and their own primitive technology. These beasts were sentient and possessed the ability to be dangerously intelligent... they were just lucky that most didn't bother to get that far, more content to tie rocks to sticks and swing their poisoned claws about.

Roland sighed, his dark grey eyes leveling a piercing gaze on the blue skinned teen. "You're not lying about this, I assume? These creatures are not something we joke about around here, traveler." He had to make certain the kid knew that this wasn't a situation where crying wolf was okay, because it simply was not. He couldn't send men out on a wild goose chase when they were needed to defend the town from very real threats.

"I can assure you, sir, that we were assaulted last night in the Residential Quarter. The wooded area off to the north of the quarter, closest to the wall. I don't mean to insinuate a failure in your security, as it may have simply been a fluke, but it is still something worth investigating I believe." The elf replied eloquently and respectfully, clearly not wanting to offend. It wasn't so much that he was scared of consequences as it was he felt this was important enough that he needed to be taken seriously.

Another, much deeper, sigh slipped from Roland's throat as he thought over this. "Alright. In this town, we can't _not_ investigate such a claim even if it was made by travelers who arrived just last night." He made it clear that the story still seemed far-fetched to him, as the residential quarter was the most heavily fortified of the city's quarters. However, it was just as he'd said; they couldn't afford not to look into that, as it was a very real threat. "You think there was a hole in the wall we haven't noticed? Some sort of tunnel they dug? A cave that led into the town? What?" It was quite frustrating to have to worry about such things.

A shrug came from the elf as a response. "I've no idea, sir. It's just something I felt you should know; I've been here for a single night and wouldn't know where else to take these concerns." He'd been directed to Roland just by asking around.

Waving the reply off, Roland nodded. "You've done the right thing, then. I'm the man to speak about for things of this nature." Reaching into his pocket, the man pulled out a small patch of cloth with a design on it reminiscent of a Celtic tree of life. "Hold on to this, if you would. If you learn anything else about this issue, please speak with one of the guards and present that to them; they'll bring you to me or get word to me so I can track you down." Tossing the cloth to the elf, who caught it with a raised brow, he explained. "Kid, I've been around long enough to know your type to some degree; you're either bullshitting me for kicks, or you're reporting a legitimate breach in our security that could kill dozens of people if left alone. I'm also willing to bet that you're too nosy to keep out of it if this is a legitimate issue." Seeing the amused look that brought to the teen's face, Roland allowed himself a small grin. "With that said, we're shorthanded as is. Enlisting a little outside help isn't gonna hurt." Really, he could hardly spare the men for anything right now; the guard was running short as it was.

Enough that the Mayor had gone ahead and hired a mercenary group to try and pick up some of the slack and make the guard's workload lighter, but that came with it's own share of issues as they operated autonomously from the town guard.

"I appreciate the trust, Sir Roland." The teen replied, offering a light bow. The girl at his side blinked, looking between the two before offering her own awkward bow, which drew amusement from her companion. "I can certainly see why your parents thought you needed etiquette lessons, Anya." He teased with a smirk, drawing a pout from the girl.

"... mean." She mumbled, lashing out lightly to kick the taller boy in the shin.

Rolling his eyes at the display, the Captain of the Guard cracked his back with a stretch. "Well, I suppose I'd best be off to work on figuring out what the hell's gone wrong today. If you find something or have any question you think I can answer, give me a holler. I may be the Captain of the Guard, but most of my time is spent on patrol just like everyone else." It was a more hands on approach that provided him better results over the years than the alternatives he'd tried. "And by the way, just what the hell were you two doing in the forested part of the residential district anyhow?" He couldn't help but ask the question that had been bothering him this whole time.

The pink haired Fae girl replied immediately. "I wanted to find somewhere quiet to cuddle with Lulu, away from our other friend." She announced shamelessly, seizing the older boy's arm between her own in a clear show of affection... and possessiveness.

Roland blinked, before glancing between the two of them incredulously. "... alright." Well, honestly, that made some kind of sense. The most private, "romantic" spot one could find in this town would likely be that very same forested part of town, as very few people bothered to go in that area, especially at night. Children tended to play there under adult supervision in the daytime, but night left that place practically barren.

He just hadn't expected the rather small girl and the elf to be involved with one another in such a way. They painted a rather bizarre picture, with her clearly being younger than him. Not unheard of, though, and it was quite apparent the girl was content with things so who was he to judge? The young love brought back some nostalgic memories of his own, really.

Clearing his throat to get himself off of that track lest he start staring off into space and remembering the wedding night, Roland gave a light nod to the two teens and left with a few words of advice in parting. "If you're interested taking an active role in helping us out, come see me some time tomorrow. I'll be settin' up a scouting group to look around the area, and I can tell just by looking at you that you'd be a welcome addition." The Snow Elf was clearly someone noteworthy, and even the Fae girl seemed capable considering how comfortable she seemed in that rather heavy looking armor.

The fact that the girl deferred so heavily to him seemed to imply a few things, but it could just be coincidence. Either way, it wasn't important. With that last thought in mind, the guardsman began to walk down the street with a purpose.

It was time to get some shit done.

Behind the retreating form of Roland, Lelouch and Anya were still standing off on the side of the street. "Hm. Well, this could be interesting." Lelouch mumbled to himself, idly fiddling with the patch of cloth he'd been given. Slipping the item into his own pocket, the teen turned to Anya as she began to tug on his sleeve in order to get his attention. He gave her a questioning glance.

"Are we gonna get involved in this?" She asked bluntly. "It could be a big mess." There was one lizardman in town, probably through some fluke or another. It had been killed the previous night. Anya knew well enough that it could be a sign of things to come, but she wasn't certain that getting involved was the best thing for them.

Lelouch shrugged. "Well, to be fair we _do_ need to think about our own living conditions, even if they are temporary." Seeing her confusion, he elaborated. "If this town does turn into a warzone, we'll be caught in it anyway. And this is practically the only civilized place in the entirety of the Swamplands. Leaving without ample preparations would be troublesome."

The girl nodded slightly, seeing his point. "So... what do you think we should do?" She asked.

Lelouch chuckled a bit. "Honestly, Anya, I think you should go hang out with Gino for a bit while I do some scouting of my own." Seeing the girl's immediate distaste at the thought of him leaving her for an extended period of time, he placed a hand on her head and stalled her from making her displeasure known vocally. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, but this could be important and I'd like to try and remain more subtle... subtlety being far from your strongest point." This earned him a petulant glare and a pout from the girl.

"... I don't wanna be away from you. I'm scared." She mumbled reluctantly, keeping her voice low.

Pulling the girl closer to him, Lelouch offered a reassuring smile to her. "It's fine, Anya, don't worry. I understand." He was something of a lifeline for her, seeing as how he was from the part of her life that Anya could genuinely call her own. As much as she appreciated Gino's friendship, the teen was someone she met through the machinations of his parents. Gino was something of a fluke in all of that, though. "Let's make a deal, then."

The pinkette perked up at the mention of a deal. "... I'm listening."

"If you can let me explore things for a few hours and keep Gino company, I'll brush your hair for you in the mornings just like I used to." He offered with a fond smile.

Anya looked up at him with a pair of wide, gleeful eyes. "Really?"

"Yes, I promise." Lelouch reaffirmed, rubbing her head softly. "I bought a hairbrush on a whim when we were selecting our equipment." He chuckled at the positively ecstatic expression the girl had over something so simple, but to her it was something special he supposed.

He was also quite aware that his using this as a sort of deal wasn't terribly effective, as both of them knew even if Anya didn't relent on this then he would still do it for her if she asked. But despite knowing this, just the fact that he had been the one to make the offer made the deal worth something to her it seemed.

The girl slowly released his arm. "Alright. I'll go find Gino." She wasn't terribly uncomfortable with being alone, especially if it was just a temporary measure. It was just more along the lines of her wanting to be around Lelouch as much as possible. It wasn't that she was scared to be away from him, her fear was that he wouldn't come back to her. But he'd practically promised to come back, and that was enough for now.

"He should still be near the inn; I asked him to wait up for us. Please explain to him that something came up for me, will you?" Lelouch asked the girl with a smile.

Nodding, Anya turned to leave before looking over her shoulder and asking one last question. "... should I tell him exactly why, or..?"

"It's fine if you do." Lelouch replied with a wave. "I'll be off scouting the walls; hopefully the patch Sir Roland gave me will douse any suspicions." If it didn't then he would deal with the situation as it came, but hopefully the crest would garner him a bit of trust with any guards who wanted to hinder him.

That lizardman couldn't have arrived through conventional means; any sort of tunnel, cave, hole in the wall, or what have you would not have gone unnoticed long enough for infiltrators to make their way into the walls. Not with this town on such high alert, and he could tell for certain that they were walking on eggshells. Something was fishy and he was going to figure out what, so their peaceful little temporary refuge would remain such.

Seeing Anya walk off, Lelouch couldn't help but sigh. So much had changed over the years, but she was so close to the same girl she had once been now that her mind was back under her exclusive control. It was disheartening to see the weight on her shoulders, though, as he could clearly guess just where that tension was coming from.

Anya had been a soldier for longer than she should have been; far longer. Who knows when her first kill had been, or how many lives she had ended by this point. As the Knight of Six, just during her time in the Mordred alone she had devastated numerous foes of Britannia without mercy or remorse... and Lelouch could tell she was feeling the result on her conscience.

He was worried about her, honestly. She had tried to sneak into his room unannounced last night, though the locked door had nearly stopped her. If not for the fact that Lelouch had caught the noise of someone toying with the doorknob, she would probably have stood at his door until morning with how distraught she appeared.

She had been close to tears, just standing in the hallways in what he could only assume were her sleep clothes; rather than the heavy armor, she was garbed in light and simple clothing consisting of a pair of brown cloth pants and a light pink shirt, her feet bare and her hair down. Lelouch hated to even think it, but he couldn't help but feel like it was a pathetic sight to see the girl's eyes widen in surprise, before she had very nearly ran off in mortification.

The thought of that positively killed him, and so he had stopped her before she could make it even a few steps. Pulling the girl into his arms, he'd held her yet again until she had calmed down.

They had shared a bed that night, and Lelouch expected it would be a nightly occurrence now.

It made him angry to think that even though Anya's mind had been freed, she was far from fine.

* * *

"So we've got an outsider snoopin' around, then?" A gruff voice muttered irritably. "Shit! I hate unknowns." The man grunted, settled on an overturned barrel up against the wall of a cave. The cavern was lit by oil-lanterns, and around the area one could spot random bits of furniture scattered about to make the area more livable.

Another man offered his response. His voice was softer, more melodic, though it carried a sinister tone. "For once we agree on something." He mumbled in response, running a hand through his silvery-white hair. "How troublesome." The man sighed softly, annoyed by the turn of events.

"Should we just put 'im into the ground?" The first man, a towering behemoth of a human being, asked hopefully. His own orange hair was done up in a mohawk, his face rough looking and scarred from many battles. A pair of baleful black eyes stared towards the other man as he asked his question.

The second man considered it briefly, before shaking his head. "No, no. That would draw too much suspicion if an outsider who began investigations just today were to be eliminated." He explained, his own golden eyes tinted with obvious irritation at that. "It wouldn't be worth the trouble it brought, I'm afraid." Even though leaving him be would also cause trouble... perhaps a more subtle method could be used? "Hm..." He hummed in thought, turning his gaze towards one of the righted barrels off to the side of the cavern with a small smirk.

"Wazzat? You thinkin' somethin' fun up, Setoh?" The large man asked eagerly, a wide grin coming to his lips.

Nodding lightly, the silver haired man walked towards the barrel he had been inspecting before removing a large black sphere. It was polished and gleamed in the low light, resembling a giant black pearl. "Perhaps, Braun... perhaps." The man, Setoh as he was called, allowed himself a brief chuckle as the devious idea set in.

If they couldn't kill the interloper, why not simply bring him to their side? All it would require was a bit of... persuasion. Something these delightful stones would help along quite nicely.

Seeing the gleeful expression light up on the giant man's face, Setoh decided to explain his plan. "Since we cannot simply kill our curious little friend, what better plan is there than to use him for our own ends? We'll just capture him, convert him to our way of seeing things..." He tapped the giant pearl for emphasis, his grin becoming more and more sinister as he spoke. "And once we've done that, he'll become a font of information for our dear town guard... none of it useful, mind you." He began to laugh at the thought that such an annoying wrench in their plans could become a boon just like that. "Truly, these Abyssal Pearls are quite wonderful things."

Braun allowed his own amusement to show with a brief snort. "Heh, yeah. That ought'a be fun. An' once we're done with 'im, then we smash'im right?" That was the best part, obviously.

Setoh rolled his golden eyes in exasperation at his comrade's obsession with murder. "Yes, Braun, then you can smash him. And we'll even round up his little traveling companions so you can smash them too." He offered dryly, thinking of the Fallen teen and the Fae girl their curious little Snow Elf had brought along. They had yet to interfere with any plans, seemingly having no interest in doing so, but bystanders were in no way exempt from this.

The larger man's grin widened. "Ooh, yeah, the little pink one. I'll take my time with 'er. Gonna enjoy "smashin'" that somethin' fierce." The blonde would also, of course, be smashed in a more literal sense as he was an equal opportunity killer. But women were useful for other things when the opportunity arose.

"... I'll leave you to that, then." Setoh replied with a disgusted look at the thought. Braun was positively massive compared to normal humans, the Giant blood in his veins having provided that trait. While the silver haired elf was unsure as to whether or not that transferred over to his loins, as he'd never had any interest to ask, he could only imagine that the rather small Fae girl was not going to be in for a good time. "... keep that particular "smashing" far, far, _far_ away from me." He didn't need to see _or_ hear the results of that. Just the brief moment he'd unintentionally imagined it was bad enough.

It wasn't that he was particularly squeamish, but there were some things best left unseen and the sight of a Giant-blooded human raping a small Fae girl was one of them in his mind.

The unrepentant giant chuckled at the repulsed look his announcement drew from the High Elf. "Suit yourself. I'd be willin' to let you take a swing at'er first, if ya like." It was left unsaid that this was solely because she would be in no condition for it by the time he was done.

Setoh got the insinuation quite fine. "I'm fine, thank you." He replied dryly, throwing a dull look towards the larger man. "As a matter of fact, I've been provided information I had no desire to learn just now. So thank you for that as well." He was more the kind to prefer a more mature looking woman, rather than a girl who looked to be in her teens. Whether or not they were willing was irrelevant to him just as much as to his larger companion, though Setoh at least left them usable after he was finished.

Braun on the other hand had forced replacement of their entertainment more often than any other factor. Something which contributed heavily to their current post deep within the caves.

After all, it wasn't like they could keep the corpses hidden forever if they kept piling up. Best to keep Braun underground with a babysitter.

And unfortunately, Setoh was the most effective babysitter they had for the lummox.

"So..." Setoh spoke up with a frown, glancing around the area. "We're going to need another lizard, Braun. Something to serve as bait for our new friend." Temporary friend, rather, as his brief stint with them would end with a very bloody pile of meat that used to be alive.

"Alrighty." The giant man muttered, standing with a stretch that cracked the bones in his back. "Les' go round one up." With that, he began to walk off towards the exit of the cave, which would take them out into the Swamplands themselves. His footfalls were accompanied by subtle thuds as he plodded off.

A deep sigh left the lips of the elven man. "I'm so done with this." Why couldn't they have done this in a nice, cool climate? Not this blasted swampy abomination of a landscape.

But, then, the town here was located in a perfectly isolated position that would allow them to perform their ritual without interruption. And once that was finished, the Lord of the Fallen would walk the lands once more, and they would be rewarded for their efforts with great power.

The thought brought a smile to Setoh's lips, though the muggy atmosphere outside of the cave quickly quelled his pleasure. Swatting at a mosquito that wandered too close, killing it instantly, the man's smile became a frown quite quickly.

He wanted to go back into the cave, damn it. But someone needed to keep a leash on Braun...

"Ugh..." The man hung his head in defeat, stalking off after the far from subtle giant of a man traipsing his way through the marsh without a care in the world. "Why am I the one babysitting this lug again?" Setoh asked no one in particular.

Unexpectedly, he received an answer. "Because you and I are the only two strong enough to keep him under control, and I would have already shoved something sharp into his skull." A feminine voice replied dully as a woman appeared before Setoh. The woman had tanned skin, long ears like his own, and a pair of emerald eyes. Hiding her doubtlessly beautiful face was a face mask the covered everything from the nose down, and over her head was a hood that left the upper part of her face hidden in the shadows, save her almost glowing eyes. She was garbed in a set of high quality leather armor, dyed a midnight black, and carried a pair of daggers at either hip. Various pouches and pockets could be seen across her person, doubtlessly hiding various weapons. "I'm not very tolerant of his attempts to fuck me, as you're aware."

Grimacing at the sudden appearance, Setoh replied. "Yes, quite." Most of the scars on Braun's face were from her, after all. She had been his previous keeper, and it really was only a matter of luck that kept the giant of a man alive after igniting her ire so many times. "Something you're in need of, Stella?"

The elven beauty nodded. "Yes. I've been asked to check up on you and the lug in order to see if plans are still going as intended."

"Things are progressing well." Setoh replied immediately, glancing off into the distance to keep his eye on the figure of Braun as the man trampled through the swamplands gracelessly. "I'm currently working on an issue with the snooping outsider."

Another nod, accompanied by a hum. "You intend to brainwash him and use him to spread false information, yes?" She queried.

Sighing at that, the High Elf nodded. "Yes, you're correct. Braun is heading to the pit to retrieve one of our expendables to serve as bait so I can ambush the fool." Of course she would figure out his plan immediately. He'd thought it quite clever, but upon further review it really was an obvious conclusion.

"Very well. You are intelligent enough to be trusted with such a task; keep Braun far away from the delicate matters and this should be no issue." Stella noted idly, displaying her faith in his abilities.

Setoh was honestly pleased with that much. "I'm glad to see someone actually appreciates my talents." There were days when he legitimately felt like his only use was to keep Braun occupied.

Stella shrugged. "You have proven yourself to be useful." It was really that simple. Setoh hadn't been with them as long as some others, and yet he had already found himself in a high position within the group. That said something about his talent. He also had the ability to keep Braun under control much more efficiently than she could, as her own method was becoming more and more ineffective. Eventually that fool was going to stop backing off after she cut him, and she would really be forced to put him down.

The High Elf Mesmer was much more capable of keeping the brute down; Braun's resistance to mental attacks was almost nonexistent. Setoh just trapped the idiot in an illusion of going on a bloody rampage while his body was out cold.

... Braun was actually okay with this method of restraint. As such, he and Setoh got along well enough as the High Elf was content to ignore most of his idiocy.

Offering one last curt nod, the elven woman faded out of view without a word.

Setoh sighed again. "I'm glad that things are still progressing smoothly on their end." Dealing with the more public face of their organization must have been troublesome, though he wasn't sure if it measured up to the trouble of dealing with the lunkhead each and every day. Thankfully the days of babysitting this fool would soon be over, as they would all be free to just go wild to their heart's content.

For Setoh, that didn't make much difference honestly. He was probably going to set up his own little hideaway and live out his long life in an isolated paradise, exerting his will whenever he so desired for whatever means he felt like pursuing; because they would be granted power enough to do so without issue. His goal in assisting their group was purely selfish, but then most of them were after their own goals. Some of them were genuinely in this for the sake of resurrecting their Demon Lord, including the leader of their merry little band, but a majority were simply seeking power for their own ends.

Following off behind Braun's fairly obvious trail, the man sighed once again. Only another week before he could be gone from this insufferable lout.

* * *

"Hm..." Lelouch mumbled idly, following alongside the wall near the area the two of them had been assaulted previously. Thus far he had inspected most of the wall and seen nothing that could evidence an infiltration; which was more damning than if there had been something. It clearly meant, to him, that someone was assisting the lizardmen in entering this town. There was no other way that such primitive creatures could slip through the defenses of this place so easily.

But who would do such a thing? That was the real question here. What motive was there to try and get lizardmen into town? Lelouch sighed at the rather obvious answer that came to mind.

"This is all for a distraction, I wager." The teen mumbled to himself, idly scanning the woods around him. He had made some use of his necromatic abilities to create a few scouts out of small creatures that had passed in the area; squirrels, mice, lizards, and so on. As of now, they were scurrying about the general area searching for any sort of clues.

That was something pleasant about Necromancer spells, in his mind. If given proper direction and ideas of what they should be looking for, even something moderately mindless could serve as tools to locate something suspicious. Of course, there were limitations. It wasn't as though the animals themselves had any idea of what would be suspicious, and so he'd been forced to ingrain a few obvious images into them in order to alert him if something was found. Namely, things that he himself would find suspicious.

It wasn't the most effective method in the world, but it did offer some benefits as the width of his search range was quite large considering how little effort it took to manage such small creatures. He would have preferred more intelligent minions, but these were also quite innocuous themselves and wouldn't draw much attention to themselves in their search.

A half-decayed dog prancing about would likely draw some concern from the locals. Necromancy wasn't a particularly well liked profession.

Another sigh slipped out from the blue skinned elf as he continued his own investigations. Having found no holes in the wall or any sort of secret passageway that one could use in this area to slip in, he was becoming more and more certain that these lizardmen were being slipped in by a third party as a sort of distraction. For what, though?

The lizardmen were a very real threat; slipping them in provided a few major things. One, the townsfolk became nervous and two, the guard would go on high alert due to the dangerous nature of the invaders. With the townspeople nervous and the guard on high alert, it would likely cause a lot of stress on the guard due to a higher amount of incidents and reports drawing their attention. They would be spread thin if things kept up like that, unable to respond to each and every little thing that came up.

But for an outside invading force, this could still be problematic. With the town on high alert, any invaders would have to deal with guards that were prepared to be attacked. So scaring the guard like this provided no real benefit if that was their goal. Which, of course, left him pondering on just what the endgame here was meant to be.

A sudden noise drew Lelouch's attention, cutting off his musing. Rustling in the brush quickly translated into the sound of a creature dashing forward, and the Snow Elf had a fairly solid idea just what that meant considering where he was.

Just as the lizardman bolted from the foliage, Lelouch dashed forward to meet it's charge, moving at speeds that he couldn't help but marvel at even as the scaly beast grew closer and closer to him.

Much like the lizard the previous night, this one was dressed in tattered leathers that covered nothing but it's groin. It's tail lacked the stone the previous one had, but instead had a sharp, jagged rock tied to it. It's claws also gleamed with the very same poison he was certain the previous creature had been using. A pair of manic yellow eyes with slit pupils glared out at the world, and it's maw was wide open to reveal rows of dagger-sharp teeth.

The beast lunged towards him with reckless abandon, claws extended and seeking purchase in soft flesh. It was clear that this was, again, a rabid beast of a creature with very little thought for strategic approach or finesse.

And as such, Lelouch made quick work of it. Ducking beneath the first slash of the lizard's claws, he brought his right hand to his left palm for a brief moment. Not a second later, a solid white dagger of sorts was clenched in his right hand, which he brought up to ram into the lizard's exposed neck.

With a spray of blood, the creature let loose a furious screech. Lelouch dug the shiv deeper into the creature's throat, putting an end to it's struggles. Letting the corpse fall back, the teen allowed himself a small smirk. It wasn't difficult to defeat something like that; as a matter of fact, his new body was incredibly adept.

Taking into account the fact that he was a Necromancer, one may have assumed that close range combat would be a bad decision... but, well, a combination of high base stats and more versatile magics made that a poor assumption.

"Lovely." Lelouch mumbled to himself with a smirk, turning his gaze off towards the treeline where the creature had come from. It would appear someone wanted him gone, as this was a rather coincidental event. It seems his plans were going just as smoothly as they ever did, though he had of course considered this possibility.

Mocking applause came from behind the teen, drawing his attention towards a new figure in the area. "Bravo, bravo." The man chuckled snidely, continuing his clapping. He was a silver haired elf, judging by the ears, garbed in a long robe. The robe looked quite exquisite, colored in silvers and golds that were rather vibrant, the two colors intricately weaving into a myriad of patterns. Just from looking at him, one could tell this elf was fairly conscious of his appearance. "It's too bad you were too busy dealing with that thing to keep from falling into my trap, but what can you do?"

A chuckle slipped from the blue skinned boy, confusing the man at the other end of the clearing. "Oh? And just who fell into a trap?" He asked, eyes gleaming with malicious amusement at the man who had attempted to ambush him.

"Oh?" The man laughed. "You've got no idea what you're up against, boy." This youth had no clue just who he was playing with, none in the slightest. It was going to be so pleasant to teach him a lesson.

A shrug met the man's response. "Very well. I assume your goal was to ambush me, and since you've revealed yourself you feel that your trap has been sprung. Please, do inform me of just what I'm supposed to be concerned about?" Lelouch asked idly, his own trap ready to be sprung at any moment. The elf had allowed him far too much time with his posturing, as it took mere seconds to subtly reanimate the deceased lizardman. Moreover, he was far too confident in such a simple ruse...

"Ah, but my boy, you haven't been speaking to me at all. This is just an illusion." The phantasm of the man spoke, a devious smile on his lips.

Lelouch raised a brow in amusement. "I'm fully aware. The real one is standing about three feet behind me, cloaked with an invisibility spell... well within range." The boy raised his hand, before clenching it tightly into a closed fist.

"What the hell!?" A shocked voice cried out in surprise, the invisibility spell cloaking the Elven man shattering along with the doppelganger as his ankle was gripped between the claws of the dead lizardman, who's baleful yellow eyes had been replaced by inky pools of blackness that seemed to generate a dark vapor. "Shit, a Necromancer!?" The man cursed in realization, knowing full well that he was at a disadvantage here.

Necromancers were deeply in tune with life and death; able to sense the presence of living beings within a certain radius in addition to sensing those who had passed. This sense of life and death provided them with almost unfair advantages against those who utilized stealth in close range scenarios, as the closer one was to the Necromancer the harder it became to hide your presence from them.

Even worse was the fact that he hadn't even considered the possibility of a Necromancer, and so he hadn't prepared any presence concealing wards to keep himself more well hidden. Necromancers were practically shunned from most walks of society; and as such, there were not many who would take that particular path of magic unless they had no intention of interacting with other living beings. That was the whole reason he had disregarded the possibility, as this Snow Elf was traveling openly in a party.

Golden eyes glared balefully towards the smirking teen as he turned to regard to man who's ankle had been captured. "Surprised?" He asked with a smirk, clenching his hand harder.

Setoh cried out in agony as the lizardman's hand crushed his captured ankle, it's already inhuman strength boosted by the foul magics keeping it in motion. "You bastard..." He had made a miscalculation. The teen was more dangerous than expected, and further he had the perfect specialty to deal with Setoh's original plan, and not realizing sooner that he was being had cost the elf most of his mobility. But it was fine, he could still escape and plan for the future. He needed to buy himself some time, just a few moments.

Throwing his hands towards the Necromancer, he generated several blades of pink magical energy before blasting them towards the teen to provide himself some room.

As expected, the boy had dodged the attack. However, the brief distraction had provided him the time to weave an illusion. As of now, the teen's mind was under the impression that everything was going as he planned it, which would occupy him for the moment.

Long enough for him to sever the damn lizard's hand from his ankle, at least. He had to escape and reevaluate the threat level of this teen, seeing as how a Necromancer could be a serious problem for them; the more lizardmen they sent to serve as distractions, the more dangerous he could eventually become. They hardly wanted to deal with an army of dead lizardmen on top of the town guard when they sprung their trap.

Seeing the blank look come to the boy's eyes, Setoh began to hack at the lizardman's wrist with his mind-blades, the pink energy slashing viciously at the creature as it attempted to bite his other ankle. While the Necromancer was occupied, he still had to deal with his minion.

Blade after blade impaled the beast, pinning it to the earth as the Mesmer finally removed it's arm. Without the dark magic connected to the rest of the body, the grip slackened enough that he was able to pry it off.

Turning to regard the teen yet again, Setoh saw that he was still under the effect of the illusion; his face completely devoid of any emotion. It was surprising to him. Shouldn't a Necromancer have better resistance to such things? The elf knew for sure that curses from those foul magics were something he had a great deal of resistance to, he could probably shake them off with a little effort.

This kid's mental resistance must be nonexistent if he hadn't managed to shatter such a half-assed illusion. Setoh had meant for that to buy him roughly ten seconds, not the good half a minute that had already passed by.

Perhaps he could just proceed with the original plan after all and use the Abyssal Pearl to turn the boy to their side. Fishing the item out of his pocket, he smirked as the weight of the cool stone made itself known in his hand. Excellent, this had worked out after all. All he needed to do now was put use to the item...

Reality shattered like glass.

Now pinned to the floor with his feet and hands damaged beyond recognition, Setoh couldn't understand what had happened. Turning his stupefied gaze towards the Necromancer standing above him, his eyes unintentionally shone with his desire for an answer to this mystery.

Lelouch smirked down at the subdued Mesmer, providing that answer. "Sorry about the confusion. Your illusion was reflected onto yourself." In addition to the perks he had chosen during the creation process, the teen's mind had provided him with a third perk that he had not chosen. Countermind, a passive skill that was usually exclusive to the Mesmer class. If one's resistance to an illusion spell was high enough, that spell would be reflected back towards it's caster.

The Mesmer's spell had been cast quickly, and thus it was rather weak compared to some spells he would be able to put forth; given another few seconds, the elf could likely have powered the illusion up enough that Lelouch would have been under it's effect. However, casting it so quickly underpowered the spell enough that Countermind had kicked in and reflected the spell with more strength than it originally had.

Enough that the Mesmer was caught in his own illusion for roughly thirty seconds, easily long enough for the undead lizardman to neutralize the elf.

"... you... but how?" Setoh muttered through the pain and humiliation, desperate for answers. "You're a Necromancer, countering mental spells shouldn't be so easy for you!" It wasn't as though one's profession denied them the ability to seek out other specialties, but no one so young should be skilled enough to counter mind-based spells so easily when they were already clearly educated quite deeply in the dark arts of Necromancy. That kind of talent was unheard of. This Snow Elf was a damn teenager, there was no way he should be so skilled.

The teen in question shrugged. "It's none of your concern, really. Now, then, I'm going to have you answer some of my questions." The boy announced, a rather dark smile slipping onto his lips.

"I'm not telling you anything you damn fool." Setoh still had his pride. He wouldn't reveal anything of their plans.

Lelouch laughed. The sound brought shivers down the elven man's spine, as the laughter continued to become more and more sinister. "... you don't seem to understand, friend..." He mocked the man, stifling a few more chuckles. "You don't have a choice; the phrase "dead men tell no tales" doesn't apply to me." The smile became wider and wider.

Eyes widening in realization, the elf's struggles increased. No, no, he couldn't die; if he died his mind would be free game for this bastard! He had to escape, had to get far away from this devil of a child. Bad enough that he had been bested by a fluke, but now his mind was going to be turned into an open book against his will?

It was useless, though.

Lelouch genuinely enjoyed the man's squirming as he held his left hand, palm up. A white substance began to push out from the palm of his hand. "You know, I find these abilities positively fascinating." The white haired teen began conversationally as his ulna bone pushed itself out from his arm, sharpened like a sword. Seeing the terror in the man's golden eyes, he offered him a devilish grin. "It's why I don't bother to carry any weapons on me; my own skeleton serves well enough for that function." He could manipulate his bones in a myriad of different ways, and it was really quite interesting. If he'd been more squeamish he may have found it unsettling, but Lelouch had seen worse things. As it was, he had only really tried manipulating his arm bones; the small dagger buried within the lizardman's throat was another of his.

It was still sort of odd, though, to watch as the ulna penetrated the skin without a single drop of blood, it's shape altered in such a way as to serve as a blade. Stranger still to realize that his bones grew back nigh instantly, replacing those he used as weapons. His mind told him that other weapons could be made from different bones, but for now a simple blade should suffice. He only needed to execute some fool, after all.

Gripping the shortsword sized bone in his right hand, the teen chuckled again before leveling a dark glare down towards the frantic elf pinned to the ground.

Without further distraction, he lowered the white blade down and put an end to the struggling Mesmer's life in a spray of blood.

* * *

Gino really didn't know how he felt about this situation.

The three of them had woken up stranded in the middle of a swamp with radical changes to themselves, with himself and Lelouch getting the most extreme end of it.

He was a Monk. Not really, as he had no real experiences having lived the life of a Monk, but at the same time he had the skills and instinct that went with it as though he had been doing this crap since he could walk. It was ingrained in his head off in a corner all it's own, with a big neon sign screaming "Monk Skills and Abilities!" directly above it. It was there, he could access it at will and the information was all clear and easy to understand, as though he'd studied each and every little piece of information himself and memorized it naturally.

Except, y'know, he hadn't. It was jarring to think too hard on it, so Gino swiftly moved away from that topic and moved on to the blatant pros and cons of the situation.

Cons; he was solid red, had horns and a tail, and had absolutely no fucking idea how this situation had come to be. As such, he was horrifically confused. Moreover, they had no real idea how to return to their world and the group was separated by entire kingdoms worth of land in some cases. This world was extremely dangerous, as well, as there were all kinds of creepy critters out in the world more than happy to put an end to your life if given the chance. Worst of all, a lot of them defied the logic that they came into this world with. Dragons were a thing, for one. Actual legitimate fire breathing dragons were a thing that someone could accidentally run into if their luck was bad enough.

Gino was famous for being a mixed bag on luck, and from the stories he'd heard Lelouch was just the same. Anya was pretty much in the middle of the spectrum usually... but most of her bad luck seemed to be used up in her early childhood leaving her practically an emotionless shell of a girl who's first major breakthrough in freedom was this situation.

... Yeah, they were going to end up running into a dragon before this was over. Gino was certain of it.

Pros. The pros were important. What was good about this whole ordeal? Well, first and foremost was Anya. She was actually free to be herself now instead of being kept on a leash by some spirit possessing her body. And, as a matter of fact that almost made this entire thing worthwhile.

In his fairly long-running relationship with the pinkette, he had never once seen her smile. Really smile, like she didn't have a care in the world and she was genuinely happy.

Not a single. Friggin'. Time. She just didn't do it. Her eyes were always so dull, lifeless. He'd done everything he could to try and perk her up, make her days a little more fun, a bit more interesting, just doing things that would draw her attention away from memories she couldn't even trust. But nothing was ever enough; momentary distractions at the best. Once the moment was over, she was locked back up in her own little world and nothing could reach her.

It was so goddamn depressing to see someone, let alone a young girl, in that condition. She looked broken. Like life wasn't even worth living.

Not anymore, though. She was now just a bundle of unbridled joy and it was jarring but he absolutely adored it. She had actually given _him_ a hug in greeting when she'd came back to the inn, which left him baffled briefly before he cracked a joke about it.

And she had laughed.

Anya's laughter was one of the most adorable things he'd ever heard. But maybe that was just because he'd never heard it before.

One way or another, the simple fact that he could look at her at any point and see a smile on her lips made it hard for Gino to feel like this was a bad thing. If nothing else, this entire ridiculous event had helped Anya and that was something he would be grateful for for the rest of his life. She deserved to be able to laugh and smile like anyone else.

And, honestly, it wasn't like Gino wasn't enjoying this to some degree either. This new body he'd ended up with was odd at first, but it functioned just like his old one but with some add-ons... and moreover, it was at least four times stronger and faster than he had ever been. Considering he was a military man and had extensive training in the usage of aircraft and knightmare frames, the fact that his reaction time and coordination had been improved to the degree they had, in addition to his body breaking past the limits of the world he had spent his whole life in... it was positively astounding.

He could punch through stone without much issue. Hell, his claws could leave gouges in just about anything. Wood, stone, metal, it didn't matter. These things were obscenely tough and exceedingly sharp when put to the test.

Gino couldn't help but snicker as he peeled an apple using said claws, something that Anya was watching with a pair of stunningly bright red eyes that were full of wonder at the odd sight. The two of them were currently settled in one of the plazas in the shopping district, settled off to the side beneath the shade of a rather large willow. The town was practically full of them, which made sense considering the name of the town in question.

"... do you think you could peel a grape?" Anya asked curiously.

Shrugging and taking part of the sliced apple peel to nibble on, Gino offered his response. "... probably. Why?"

"Curious. It looks fun." She admitted with a giggle. "Do you think Lulu could do that too? His nails are pretty sharp."

Gino shrugged in response, before he tossed the peeled apple towards Anya. "Catch." His claws weren't exactly designed to slice the apple, too short for that. After seeing Anya catch the fruit bemusedly before shrugging and nibbling at it, he pulled out a second one from his pack and took a rather large bite unceremoniously. Chewing the apple thoroughly before he swallowed, Gino looked towards the bite mark with a contemplative expression.

Man, his teeth were stupid sharp too. He hadn't even bit down that hard, but it just slid on through without issue. He hadn't noticed the ease that he had with the meal last night because he was too busy stuffing his face to care, but now it was obvious.

The blonde let loose a surprised yelp and jumped a little bit suddenly, turning to see an unrepentant Anya messing with his tail. "H-hey, Anya! Don't do that suddenly!" He admonished the girl. "That's... er... well kind of sensitive." Was it because he was more conscious of the tail because it was a new addition to his body, or was that part of him really so sensitive all the time? It was kind of weird. "Actually, just don't mess with my tail."

Anya giggled in response, covering her mouth with one hand as the blonde Fallen yanked his tail away from her, pointedly positioning it further away. She had wondered what the spade at the end felt like, and without really thinking she'd just gone ahead and taken the opportunity to feel it. Ignoring the fact that she hadn't informed Gino of this beforehand, of course.

The reaction was quite something. She didn't think she'd seen Gino stammer like that before. Anya offered Gino no more than an innocent smile in response to his rather deadpan stare.

The blonde teen sighed in exasperation, though there was nothing but fondness in his eyes. "You're more of a troublemaker than I thought you'd be, y'know." He noted with a grin.

"Lulu thinks so too." Anya replied with a nod, not bothering to dispute this. "But he's used to it." She and Nunna had given him the runaround so many times back at the Aries Villa, it was ridiculous. By that point Lelouch had just been done with getting annoyed over their antics; they had jaded him rather quickly.

"... so on the topic of "Lulu"..." Gino began with a devious smirk, drawing a bemused glance from the girl at his tone. "I can't help but notice that you seem rather, how should I say... interested in our dear boy Lelouch."

Anya nodded again, the expression on her face not moving from the neutral expression that she still tended to have more often than not. "Yep." She admitted casually.

Gino's smirk widened, and he clapped his hands together gleefully, holding the apple between his teeth as he did so. "I never thought I'd get to see the day that Anya had a crush!" He laughed to himself as he spoke through the fruit in his mouth, before biting down a bit more and freeing the piece he'd been holding from the apple, peering at her with one eye open as he chewed. "D'ya think he knows yet?"

The Fae girl shrugged, still nibbling at her own snack. "Probably. I don't make a secret of it." She had already told the currently white haired teen that she loved him, though that may have been taken in a sort of familial sense she supposed. "And I don't really think you can call it a crush, Gino." Seeing his questioning gaze, the girl elaborated. "I'm pretty much in love." She explained bluntly.

"... that bad, huh?" He asked, somewhat surprised by the rather blatant admission. It appeared that some of the Anya he was used to was still a part of the girl's personality.

"Pretty much." She shrugged helplessly. "What can you do, though? I've spent the last several years of my life as an emotionless drone, so now that my feelings and memories are mine again I'm..." Anya didn't really want to say that she was desperate for attention, but in a way she kind of was. Actually that was an apt enough description of her behavior in a lot of ways. "... well. I just want to love and be loved." And really, that didn't even need to be in the romantic sense; she was actually pretty content just to be the girl he treated as fondly as a sister. That was something familiar and fulfilling, and after so many years out in the cold she could say that the warmth in the way he treated her was exactly what she needed.

Of course, she wouldn't have said she was _in_ love with him if that was all she wanted to be. No, a part of her was content with that but at the same time Anya would admit that she wanted more. The feelings that Lelouch brought to her chest were... different than they used to be, back at the villa. There were similarities, but the difference was overwhelming at times.

She had to restrain herself from just reaching out and kissing him sometimes. He made her so amazingly happy just by being around. Anya was fairly certain, though, that a lot of her sudden desire came from everything rushing back at once. That still didn't really change anything for her, but for Lelouch it may make things seem a bit sudden if she wanted to pursue a relationship like that.

Anya didn't want to force things. If it happened at all, it would be because they both wanted it. Rather than allowing the conversation to end on a depressing note, as her last statement had been rather gloomy, the pinkette cracked a joke. "And if my two options were you and Lulu... well, we already went over which one of you was the prettier of the two."

"... ouch." Gino muttered with a grin. "That was... wow. No, seriously, just... wow. I can't get over the fact that you just made a joke." Let alone a burn like that. Positively scathing, he had to give her credit. And, really, no one got out of that one with their dignity intact; he'd been referred to as the less attractive of the two, and Lelouch had yet again been referred to as a pretty-boy.

Gino seriously appreciated the girl's sense of humor; if they had been able to interact like this sooner, he could just imagine the conversations they would have had.

Ah well, they were here now and they would just have to make up for lost time. Gino took another bite of his apple. "Y'know if he hurts you I'm gonna have to break his legs, right?" He asked as though the two of them were talking about the weather.

"Lulu wouldn't do anything to hurt me one way or another." Anya waved those concerns away, before leveling a dull look towards the blonde. "And if you did something like that because you _thought_ he had, I'd probably have to shoot you." She didn't need him playing the overprotective guardian card, though she did appreciate the sentiment and the humorous delivery of the statement.

Gino shrugged in response, taking another large bite. "Meh. You wouldn't shoot me anywhere fatal, right?"

"Of course not." Anya replied back, appalled at the thought. "I'd just make it so you couldn't have kids anymore."

"... on second thought, the other kind of headshot sounds more appealing now that you've presented your alternative..." Gino laughed nervously.

Tilting her head in thought, Anya attempted to figure out... oh. Headshot. She got it now. "Huh... well I guess I could just shoot you in the leg or something."

Gino nodded enthusiastically, as though they weren't discussing shooting him in various parts. "See, that's better. I knew you liked me."

"..." Anya sighed deeply all of a sudden, drawing concern from the blonde that she waved off. "... I want Lulu to come back." She mumbled sullenly, still somewhat worried.

Attempting to raise her spirits, the Fallen Monk offered the girl a warm smile and threw one of his arms over her shoulder. "Don't go worryin' about Lelouch; he's smart. He'll be back sooner or later, and you can go back to being showered with affection."

"It's not that." Anya replied with a sigh. "I'm just scared he's going to be attacked." If Lelouch got hurt, or worse, killed, then Anya didn't know what she would do. She didn't even want to consider the thought.

"No worries, Anya." Gino gave her a pat on the shoulder. "He'll be fine. Like I said, our boy is smart. No matter what hits him, he'll have a plan to deal with it."

Anya smiled a small smile, giving Gino relief as it appeared that his attempts had some success.

* * *

"... I'm not going to lie to you, this is the absolute last thing I expected to find today." Lelouch sighed deeply, shaking his head at the absurdity of it all. "So, then... how have you been?" It hadn't been long since the two of them had spoken to one another, but the setting now was so different and her arrival so unexpected that Lelouch really just did not know what else to say.

Smirking at the dumbfounded teen before her, the green haired immortal known as C.C. offered her reply. "I've been fine. You know it's been a while since someone has activated this artifact, Lelouch."

"Oh?" The teen caught on to the thinly veiled fact that C.C. knew something about this damnable "game" they had been trapped inside. "Please, do tell. I'm quite interested in this artifact... and how to turn it off."

The woman shrugged, before glancing around the street they were on briefly. "Well then, follow me and I'll explain a bit to you boy."

Allowing himself to check the streets as well, Lelouch had to agree that there were too many people on the road for him to comfortably speak about this issue. "Lead the way, witch." He replied with a smirk.

"I'm actually a Dancer, I'll have you know." C.C. shot back with her own smirk, before grabbing the teen's hand and pulling him along unceremoniously. "Come along, then. Let's go someplace more... _private_."

The rather sensual way that she enunciated the word "private" did not sit well with Lelouch, but he didn't really have much choice in the matter as he wanted answers that his witch wasn't willing to give until he acquiesced to her demands. He was used to this rather willful woman and her antics, and truthfully they held a special place in his heart.

She was the woman with the dubious honor of being the single most annoying thing in his domestic life as well as being one of the people he trusted the most in this world. It was a rather bizarre balance they struck, and their dynamic often reminded him of an old married couple, but he wouldn't trade his whimsical, pizza loving contractor for anything in the world.

As the immortal began tugging him away, Lelouch allowed himself a few moments to take in her new appearance. The first thing that really stuck out to him was the fact that she was garbed very lightly, though still sufficiently covered. Her upper body was covered in a black sleeveless top that left her midriff bare, her arms being covered by a pair of sheer sleeves. They were a light green color, similar to her hair, and held firmly via a pair of silver bangles attached to her bicep and wrist.

At her waist, there was a silver belt made of interlinking loops, with no other defining features to it. Her lower body was covered by a pair of loose fitting black pants with a cut at the sides that revealed a fair amount of her legs, though still kept more than enough hidden to remain modest. A set of silver anklets kept the pants held secure so they wouldn't fall over her bare feet.

Physically speaking, her appearance hadn't changed much at all. Her long green hair was just the same as ever, those twinkling golden eyes were unchanged, and nothing about her skin tone or other physical attributes really made him think she was anything but another human.

After a few moments of being dragged along by said witch, Lelouch found the two of them in a fairly isolated alleyway; the organization of the buildings surrounding it made the little nook he'd been taken to impossible to see from the main streets. As per the usual, C.C. moved with confidence that came from knowing an area intimately... whether or not she actually did. It was uncanny.

"So!" The woman began jovially, twirling around to face him with a catlike grin. "You, my dear boy, have stumbled upon an ancient artifact of unfathomable power; an artifact which acts as a key to a different dimension, that being Geiis, inside of which such things as magic and mythological creatures are commonplace."

Lelouch nodded. "Yes, I'm aware." He deadpanned. "It's rather hard to miss that, so please go on." The teen made wave of his hand, a "get on with it" gesture.

C.C. replied with a closed eyed smile. "Right, right. Moving on then!" Her eyes opened again as the woman continued her explanation, leaning herself up against the wall. "Let's see... well, you and all of your friends on the council are currently stuck here for the foreseeable future." Seeing the still deadpan look on his face, the woman rolled her eyes and continued. "You'll be here for a while; the game's objective is randomized, remember?"

"... so we do have to complete the objective to leave, then?" He asked with a frown, realizing that such a thing could be quite painful. Just what would the objective even be? They had no idea what the main goal was... so would they just be stuck there until one of them got lucky and completed the correct quest? That was... obnoxious, to say the least.

"Yes, Lelouch. You can leave if you get lucky and complete the objective." C.C. shrugged. "It's completely up to chance; you could have some gigantic quest requiring entire armies worth of conflict, or it could just be to locate some secret hidden artifact in the world... and you've got no idea which." Seeing his grimace, she offered a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, boy, we're stuck here for a while. But don't worry, the world outside isn't moving without us; it's paused."

Lelouch blinked. "... it's... paused?" He mumbled. "As in... time has stopped?" That was considerably difficult to believe.

"Yep. Think your "little brother"'s Geass but if it actually stopped time instead of just perception. When we do eventually return, we'll be appearing right back at the exact moment you entered the game... but with some company."

That didn't sound good, and Lelouch made the witch aware of such with his next statement. "What company?"

"Well, me for one thing." The woman replied with a shrug. "Jeremiah Gottwald for another."

Lelouch cringed heavily. "I'm sorry, but did you just say Jeremiah Gottwald? As in Orange Boy? The stark raving lunatic that you dragged into the ocean? That fool?" How the hell would that man even be there? What in the world was going on?

Another shrug. She was doing that a lot, seemingly amused by how it riled him up to see her so nonchalant. "He's found employment under V.V., who has installed a Geass Canceller into his body." C.C. gave a sad smile towards her contractor at that announcement, waiting to see how he would take the revelation.

"... a... Geass Canceller?" He mumbled, eyes widening at the implication. "You mean..?" Could she seriously mean to say that such a thing existed?

"It cancels the effects of Geass." She explained bluntly. "Meaning that your power of absolute obedience could be removed; orders you placed could be canceled."

A deep, self depreciating sigh. "... Of course such a thing comes into being only after I needed it." The teen's shoulders slumped, memories of his greatest mistake coming back to mind in a flood. Shaking his head to clear such thoughts away, the teen looked up once more. "So then this Geass Canceler allowed Jeremiah to avoid the pause. I'm assuming your Code protected you similarly?" Seeing a nod, he carried on. "Then the two of you physically moved to the location of the game board?" Another nod. "And now you'll be there once this nightmare is over."

"Indeed." C.C. replied. "Though I wouldn't think of this as a nightmare, Lelouch; we're in a fantastic world of magic and might, with bodies that far surpass those we once had and the opportunity for adventure and romance ahead of us." She laughed at the rather dry look he gave her in response. "Now, now, just think of all the fun we can have here."

Another sigh slipped from the teen, though this one was more of a fondly exasperated sound. "You're right in a way, I suppose. There have been some good experiences thus far."

C.C. gave him a curious look, before moving back to her explanation. "So, as far as leaving this world goes... well, we're going to have to just go about our daily lives until something promising turns up."

The Snow Elf gave a nod in understanding. "Alright. The first priority, then, would be to regroup with the others..." That had a lot of problems to it, though, as his identity as Zero was now out in the open to several of the others. He was also worried about Rolo, but the boy could take care of himself and he'd made it very clear that he was not to harm any of the council.

"Who did you end up with here, Lelouch?" C.C. asked curiously. "Due to our bond I'm able to sense you, but the others with you are a mystery to me."

Lelouch gave his reply with a wry smirk. "Would you believe that I ended up with two Knights of the Round?" He asked.

"Yes, your luck is bad enough for that." The witch responded immediately. "Since you're not dead or grievously injured, I can safely say that Suzaku is elsewhere. Meaning that you've been deposited with Anya Alstreim and Gino Weinberg." Lelouch's luck was awful sometimes, but that only really served to amuse her.

The teen shrugged. "Anya was under the effects of a long-lasting possession Geass..." He noticed the way the witch's eyes widened marginally. "With the effect that this event had on those who had Geass used on them, both the memories she had lost and the personality that had been locked away came back in full force." It appeared she was aware of this particular Geass.

C.C. frowned. "So she's completely different, then?"

"Not particularly, no. She's just like the little girl she used to be at the Aries Villa... just a lot more blunt and affectionate." He rolled his eyes at the amused glint in the witch's own.

The witch in question sighed, deciding against making a comment on the "affectionate" behavior of the Knight girl. "It would have been nicer if you had landed with Rolo. Explaining our presence to him wouldn't be difficult considering he's fully aware." As it was now, they were in a rather annoying spot.

Lelouch was about to reply, but something in that statement caught him off guard. "... _our_ presence?" He asked belatedly, confusion evident in his tone. "What do you mean by that?"

Another voice cut in, surprising the elven teen immensely as he had been under the impression they were alone. "That would be me, _Zero-sama~!_ " The owner of the voice proceeded to wrap her, and it was most certainly a her, arms around the teen's waist from behind. "Shame on you for keeping secrets from your wife."

He groaned, giving C.C. a dry look. "... did you seriously bring Kaguya of all people here?" Judging by the fact that the girl was currently rubbing her cheek against his back affectionately, he could only assume so.

"Yep!" The Sumeragi heiress confirmed in place of C.C., releasing him from her embrace and prancing around to his front. "I would say that it's been years, Lelouch, but thanks to a certain _someone's_ secrets I'd be wrong." She offered him a rather petulant glare. "You let Kirihara know but not me? Meanie."

The girl had undergone some changes of her own it appeared, most noticeably her skin tone. The once human color had disappeared, replaced with a stony grey shade. Her eyes were still the same emerald green they had always been, though each eye was now accentuated with a golden marking above and below it, in the shape of an elongated diamond. Her ears were pointed now, not to the extremes that his own were but enough that it was easy to notice.

Her clothing was unusual, for her at least. Rather than her usual garb which was clearly Japanese design, the robe she was clothed with now more closely resembled a Britannian style than anything else. It was a ruby red colored robe that fell just above her feet, which were covered with a pair of simple shoes. The robe appeared to have a single design on it, an elongated hourglass of sorts. It was a dark purple that began at her shoulders, descended to her waist while thinning, before flaring out once more as it passed her hips. The design was mirrored on either side of the robe. The edge of the hourglass was lined with golden embroidery.

Unlike himself, Kaguya was visibly armed. At her hip was a simple dagger resting in a plain sheath.

Lelouch sighed after inspecting the girl for a few moments. "... Sorry, Kaguya. I didn't think it was necessary for you to know." Unlike Kirihara, who was pivotal in gaining the support of the Kyoto group, informing Kaguya of his identity served no real purpose as she had already been firmly on Zero's side. He didn't like revealing his identity to anyone who didn't absolutely need to know. "Zero wasn't meant to be a person, but a symbol. He needed to remain separate from everyone at all times."

The girl huffed. "Fine. But you're gonna have to make it up to me." She'd gone seven years thinking one of her friends was dead, only to later find out that he was the masked man fighting tooth and nail to end the Britannian occupation of her homeland. And despite all of the opportunities he'd had, he never let her know just who was behind that mask. And so she'd continued to think that her friends were casualties of war, until Nunnally was made viceroy.

That had, of course, left her with the rather dreadful question; just where was Lelouch?

Her worries were unfounded, it seemed, as the ever-resourceful prince was the same man who had built the Black Knights into a legitimate military force. The very same man she'd promised herself to, despite never knowing his face. But with that knowledge now, she couldn't help but feel like she'd made the correct decision.

Lelouch himself was quite sure that he didn't like the way the girl had said that. "And just how would you have me make this up to you?" Knowing Kaguya, it could only be a few different things.

That worry intensified as the girl sauntered up closer to him, throwing both arms over his shoulders to wrap around his neck. Seeing the rather obvious intent behind her actions, Lelouch debated stopping her out of principle or just letting the girl do what she wanted.

He didn't get much time to debate, as she took the choice well out of his hands an instant after. Rather than pulling his head down towards her as he'd assumed she would, the girl had instead jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist, throwing her full weight into him suddenly.

Now, the Lelouch of their old world would have probably fallen backwards into an ungraceful heap should she have done such a thing to him. This new Lelouch, however, was much more athletic and had greater balance. Because of that, he held his ground under the sudden weight without much trouble; it wasn't like Kaguya was particularly heavy.

As such, he _wouldn't_ have been knocked down if not for the fact that something had disrupted his balance. That something, in this case, being C.C. as she had caught his foot with her whip the moment Kaguya jumped on him, and had just given a sharp tug to disrupt his balance.

Yes. Her whip. He was moderately concerned as to why the hell the witch had something like that, but his concerns at the moment were more towards making sure his landing was as smooth as it could be considering the limited time he had to react.

Put in this same situation, the old Lelouch would have fallen into an ungraceful heap... the new Lelouch hardly fared better. At the very least he'd managed to land up against the wall, rather than flat on his back.

And now Kaguya was kissing him, legs wrapped around his waist and arms around his shoulder. After a few moments of this, the girl pulled back with a positively radiant smile. "I've wanted to do that for a while now."

Lelouch gave the girl a slight glare. "You know, that makes four times now I've been kissed by other people without any say in the matter." First with Shirley when she'd lost her father, and then C.C. before she had taken on Orange Boy in the Gawain and then later to return his memories to him, and now this. And after all of this, the closest he had ever come to actually initiating a kiss had been with Kallen while he was having a mental breakdown... which had resulted in a much needed reality check, but still.

"..." Kaguya just tilted her head at him cutely. "... would you like to go for five? Because I'm up for it." Ignoring the fact that if he answered positively then it wouldn't really be without his consent, but that didn't particularly matter to the Sumeragi heiress.

A deep sigh slipped from the boy's throat as he made to stand, uncaring of the girl still attached to his front even as she squeaked at the sudden movement. Soon he was standing with his back to the wall, the dark haired girl blinking at him. "... could you remove yourself from me, please?" Lelouch asked the younger girl.

"Fine. Spoil-sport." Kaguya relented, releasing her hold on the teen and landing lightly on her feet. "Oh, and it may be a little late for this, but I'm glad to see you again." She offered him a cheeky grin.

"... I could guess." He returned dully, rolling his eyes. Lelouch hadn't expected any of this when he'd woken up today, but hey. Since when did his life remain even remotely normal? "So, then, just what have the two of you become due to this bizarre situation?" He gestured towards his pointed ears to make it apparent just what he was asking.

C.C. replied first. "Oh. I'm a Demon." She offered simply, waving her hand. "I always am. Something about the Codes, I suppose, since V.V. ends up as an Angel."

Lelouch frowned in response to that. "So you've been here before, then." He muttered, shaking his head. It certainly explained how she knew how to leave, and it was sort of an obvious conclusion, but this situation was ridiculous enough that he couldn't be sure. "Is your current appearance just how your race is supposed to look, or some sort of disguise? Gino is a Fallen and he looks more demonic than you."

The immortal shrugged. "I've got access to some fairly potent powers, one of which is transformation. For all intents and purposes, this is my default form... but there are other little things I can do." After saying that, her fingernails extended into black claws much like Gino's own and a black tail sprouted from her rear, tipped with a spade. "See?" She chuckled at the surprised look on Kaguya's face, Lelouch's own being devoid of any shock, before her body went back to normal. "I can also grow a pair of wings, but with my clothes as they are that would leave me topless in the middle of town. So we'll not be doing that until I can make some edits to my outfit."

That _did_ surprise Lelouch. "Wings? You're able to fly?"

A nod from the witch confirmed this. "Yep. It's one of those things you shouldn't know how to do, but are able to do without problems."

"Wow. That's really neat." Kaguya mumbled. The thought of flight unassisted by machinery was fantastic. "Oh, right, and I'm an Unseelie."

Lelouch twitched. "... you're a dark fairy?" He kind of saw that coming.

"Well, half." C.C. cut in, informing the boy of a rather important distinction. "Since she entered this realm as an associate of mine, she's also half-Demon."

Kaguya gave a small nod. "Right, I kind of forgot about that." She giggled.

The Snow Elf sighed at the duo. "Well, that makes two fairies in our merry little group now seeing as how Anya chose to be a Fae." Unseelie were, essentially, the darker version of the Fae, who were occasionally referred to as Seelie. Much like Dark Elves distinction from the others, the Unseelie were notably more violent and unsociable... as a society, that is.

Individuals could hold very little difference, but on a cultural level the contrast was evident. Where Fae were born of nature spirits who became flesh and blood for the pursuit of something that held their interest, Unseelie were those spirits who did so for more malevolent reasons. Hunters who killed for sport rather than food, those who would carelessly leave their campfires in the woods and risk setting the forest ablaze, and other such things.

Unseelie were often formed as the nature spirits who bore witness to such things let their anger push them forward. As such, the darker fairies were more reclusive than their counterparts; the city they had built for themselves was small and isolated, surrounded on three sides by treacherous mountains with a great wall closing them off to the world unless they opened their gates.

Fae, on the other hand... they didn't even have a city of their own, not really. There were small settlements, perhaps, but the Fae were far too curious to remain in such places for too long. They wanted to explore, and oftentimes found their homes in the mixing pots of the larger cities in the world, where many different races ended up living their lives in relative peace.

And then there were Demons. As one could likely observe by the name, they were widely regarded as a very bad thing. Almost universally seen as malevolence incarnate, Demons were often subject to a "shoot first, ask questions never" philosophy by most of the civilized races of the world... and most of the uncivilized ones as well.

This was somewhat less intense on Half-Demons, as they were regarded as victims of Demonic machinations more often than not. As such, they were allowed the freedom to move about without much open hostility. More often than not, that is. There were a fair amount of places that would not welcome a Half-Demon at all, under any circumstances, and places of that sort were avoided as much as possible.

Other places actually had laws set in place to protect Half-Demons from any sort of abuse; these laws were not always successful in preventing such things entirely, but they often guaranteed a moderately safe place for one of mixed blood to find solace. It was safer than living out in the wilds of the world, after all.

Lelouch sighed again. "C.C., you'll be referring to yourself as a Half-Demon or Human for the duration of our trip, correct?" He asked the witch.

"I'm fine with being known as a hellspawn if you're worried about me specifically." The woman replied with a wave. "If you're concerned about our little group running into trouble, I can play pretend and say I'm a normal Human." Though that came with it's fair share of issues should someone find out and learn that she had been lying, but... well, it wasn't like anyone would have room to blame her in that case. "It's up to you."

The teen shook his head. "Do whatever you think is best; I trust your judgement on this." She'd been in this situation at least once before, and so the green haired witch had more insight on this world than he did.

"Half-Demon it is, then." She replied with a small smirk. "I bask in the adversity, you know."

He replied with an amused snort. "I would believe it."

"... should I not tell anyone I'm part Demon or..?" Kaguya chimed in with her own question. "I don't really get the whole thing, but I guess it's serious for this world." She was pretty much over the fact that they were in a wholly different dimension than their own, but a lot of the things that should be common knowledge sort of eluded her due to the fact that she came from another world.

Lelouch shrugged. "If C.C. will be announcing herself as a Half-Demon, it's not like having a second will cause any more issues. You can do what you like."

Kaguya huffed. "Fine. I don't care. It probably won't even come up one way or another." She waved a hand dismissively. "So we're going to need to meet up with the rest of your group, right? Any idea what we're going to tell them to explain the fact that we're on friendly terms?"

"Well..." Lelouch began, pinching the bridge of his nose lightly. "I suppose we'll end up revealing my identity as Zero to Gino, seeing as how Anya was already aware and has made it blatantly clear that she doesn't care." He ignored the curious looks that drew from the two of them, releasing a small sigh as he continued to think. "Gino won't react violently, not right away at least. After he sees that Anya is unconcerned he could react in a few different ways..." One, he could sit back and be reasonable. Two, he could become violent after seeing he was the only one concerned about the issue. Three, he could separate from the group and attempt to locate Suzaku, the one who would be most aligned against Zero.

Of course, there were other ways he could react; infinite possibilities. He had worked a few more potential responses out, but these three would be the most likely. The first would be best; Gino would make a very troubling enemy, and Anya would be sad if he left or was hurt.

"Gino Weinberg is fully aware of who Kaguya is, that much is true." C.C. replied. "I believe that I may be something more of an unknown, but perhaps not so much." She hadn't ever really participated too openly in any sort of conflict that would leave the majority of Britannia able to identify her. Outside of Suzaku and Bismark, C.C. didn't think any of the Rounds would know of her existence... except perhaps Anya Alstreim seeing as how Marianne had been possessing her for the last several years. "Either way, you're correct to assume that us coming along with you will cause some issues."

Nodding idly, Lelouch replied to her. "Yes, but staying separate would be ill-advised; especially considering the issues the town is facing currently." Again with the curious looks, but this time Lelouch provided them the information to sate their curiosity. "The town is currently facing something of a crisis; a cult disguising themselves as a band of mercenaries has wormed their way into the town and they are working on a ritual to summon Baelrath, the Lord of the Fallen, back into this world."

C.C. frowned deeply. "Well. That's an issue." Baelrath was the Demon who had originally tainted the Humans that went on to become the Fallen. He'd been slain by his own consort. Senna, as the woman had been named, was the strongest warrior among the Fallen and the only one who had kept her mind free of Baelrath's control. As the overconfident Demon Lord slept, his favorite plaything rose up against him and put an end to his reign in a single strike.

But Demons did not die, not entirely. Their bodies may cease to exist, but their soul was still out there. With the proper rituals and sacrifices, one could commune with those souls. With more intensive rituals, they could glean power from those souls. And with a great deal of sacrifices, enormous effort and planning, and the knowledge of a master of the occult magics... those souls could be given form once more in the material world, and the full power of a slain Demon could rise again.

The immortal woman knew well enough what was going on just from Lelouch's brief explanation. A group of worshipers had cobbled together a plan to resurrect their lord, and this town's populace would be their sacrificial material. The town itself was large enough to contain easily enough people for the foul magic necessary, and it was isolated enough that news of the slaughter wouldn't reach anyone for weeks, perhaps even months before the news was widespread. By then it would be too late. "... well for obvious reasons, we kind of need to stop that." She noted dryly.

Kaguya blinked. "Uhm... will it really be that bad?" She didn't really know much of what was going on here; all she really had information-wise was that her class was a Warlock, a summoner of Demonic creatures and user of dark magics, and the pertaining knowledge that had shoved itself into her head. Blinking after realizing that this Baelrath was a Demon, she wondered if there was anything noteworthy hidden away in her knowledge.

After a moment of pondering, she came back with very little information. Baelrath was a Demon Lord who had turned a race of Humans into the Fallen, was slain by the current leader of the Fallen, who had become ageless due to the changes made to her body, and he had been all around a rather nasty creature. If he was dead, that was probably a good thing. And if people wanted him back, it was probably a bad thing. That was about as far as her information went.

"Essentially..." Lelouch began, his tone becoming rather grim. "If these fools have their way, this city will be bathed in an ocean of blood after a mass slaughter of the residents; that blood will be absorbed due to the runes that have been inscribed into the cave system below. From there, the blood of the slain townsfolk will be combined with various reagents and become the foundation for Baelrath's new body." Seeing the horrified look come to the girl's face, Lelouch offered her a reassuring smile. "But I've already made some rather significant progress in putting a stop to this, seeing as how I know this much to begin with."

C.C. cut in, understanding the implication. "So they're still in a rather early stage of the infiltration, then?" She asked, wondering just how far this had gone.

"Yes." The Necromancer replied immediately. "As of now, they will need roughly five days to proceed with their plan. Once I've informed the guards of this plot, we'll throw a large wrench into their plans and limit their movement immensely. We may be able to avert this entire crisis before it becomes one." Of course, Lelouch honestly doubted this as his luck tended to be incredibly poor when it came to averting catastrophic events.

"I see..." The green haired woman mumbled to herself. "Where did you get all of this information? Your Geass shouldn't work here, at least not as it used to." She asked, curious as to just how he had gathered so much information. "Did you torture it out of some poor fool?"

Lelouch offered a shrug in response. "I find the idea of torture distasteful, so no. I extracted this information from an elven man who had ambushed me; or, rather, his spirit."

"... Necromancy, huh." C.C. was able to put two and two together quite easily on that one. "I'll admit that I'm not surprised that you chose that class, thinking this was a game, but you're really not bothered by it at all are you?" It wasn't that she was particularly concerned about such things herself, but it was somewhat disconcerting that a teenage boy was perfectly content with such a dark class. He was literally making the dead his playthings.

"No, I'm not particularly uncomfortable with this." Lelouch admitted casually. "It's my method of survival in this world and, truthfully, it comes too naturally to me for there to be any discomfort." He honestly felt that this role fit him. He was, after all, the man who became evil to destroy a greater evil. Perhaps his comfort with the dark art of Necromancy stemmed from that simple belief. Or perhaps he really just didn't care. It was hard to say. But so long as his abilities could be used to protect himself and his interests, it didn't matter to the teen what their source was.

Nodding in response, the woman offered a shrug of her own. "Very well, then. So long as I don't have to worry about you setting up an army of undead to take the world by storm."

Kaguya frowned. "So you raise the dead and use them as tools?" She asked, fairly disturbed by the thought. "That's... gross." But, really, it wasn't something that upset her from a moral standpoint; she didn't know these people, and their corpses didn't mean anything to her. Perhaps if their minds were trapped within their dead bodies, forced along for the ride, she would be more concerned... but, then, if that were the case she figured Lelouch wouldn't be so unconcerned about it.

"Thus far I've mainly reanimated small animals and a lizardman." Lelouch replied with a smirk, holding his left hand forward. A small black lizard crawled from his sleeve, coming to a rest in the palm of his hand. One look at the animal wouldn't reveal much, but a closer inspection from a curious individual could reveal the true nature of the creature; it was dead, it's body animated only through the dark magic flowing through it's limbs. A pair of inky black pits replaced it's eyes, though the creature seemed otherwise uninteresting. "For instance, my little scouts."

For the moment he only had the single lizard, as it had been the least damaged of the creatures he'd been using. Enough so that it could actually pass as a living being if one wasn't observing it closely. The rest were in some state of decay. For the moment, his magic was preserving the lizard so that it wouldn't break down. And doing so for a single creature of such small stature took so little effort that he really didn't even notice it.

Kaguya leaned forward, inspecting the little creature with a morbid fascination. "... this is dead?" She asked in wonder, tilting her head to inspect it from another angle. It looked just like a regular lizard, a little one of some various species that she wouldn't know. The kind you could probably spot just about anywhere. And it was moving as though it still lived, the only real tell being the dark pits that were once eyes.

"Yes, it is." The Necromancer smirked at the wonder in the girl's eyes, even if it was tinted with a bit of disgust. Clearly Kaguya wasn't too fond of dead animals. Letting his hand fall, the little animal scampered back into his sleeve, hiding itself within a hidden pocket sewn into the cloth. "It can also be used to deliver curses; prepare the curse, attach it to something you've reanimated, and then pass it along much like a venomous bite." Which was one reason he kept one around. Subtly delivering a curse to an unsuspecting individual could be quite useful.

The younger girl cringed. "... ick." She mumbled, not at all pleased by the description as she was now imagining a horde of undead vermin tearing into someone. "That's creepy, Lelouch."

This drew a shrug from the teen. "Either way, it's effective." Frowning a bit, he reached into his pocket to touch at the cloth Roland had given him earlier that same day. "I need to go speak with the Captain of this quarter; feel free to accompany me. Once we've finished there, I want to regroup with Anya and Gino. We'll deal with that particular minefield once I've made the proper authorities aware of the conspiracy growing beneath their noses..."

Neither C.C. nor Kaguya had any objections to that.

"Lead the way, boy. We're with you till the end, after all. Oh, but there is one thing..." C.C.'s sudden announcement drew the teen's attention before he could make his way out of the alleyway.

Turning to regard the woman again, the Necromancer offered her a raised brow. "And that would be?"

C.C. shrugged. "I just figured you'd like to know that you're not just a Snow Elf; you're half Demon, just like Kaguya. It's just how things work in this world, seeing as how you and I have a contract." Seeing his vaguely surprised expression, she elaborated further. "Much like how you and I are contracted, V.V. and Rolo are as well. Thus, your little brother is going to be a Half-Angel and you a Half-Demon."

Lelouch couldn't help but snicker at the thought. He'd described Rolo's facade as cherubic more than once, the boy behaving like a perfect little angel in his ruse. The irony here was positively hilarious. "So, then, just what should I be expecting?" Unlike his existence as a Snow Elf, the idea of his apparent Demonic heritage was not ingrained into his mind. "I certainly don't feel like a Demon."

"I couldn't tell you; Demons are classified as a singular race, but it's not as though they're all the same thing." The woman put a finger to her chin, drawing up a relevant example. "Baelrath, for instance, takes the form of a large red-skinned human with cloven hooves and a spaded tail. Whereas others are more, or in some cases less, human looking. The diversity is enough that classifying each an every separate Demon's quirks as a species would be impractical." Seeing his look and understanding that her explanation hadn't really given the teen what he was looking for, she chuckled a bit. "One way or another, your Demon blood is... well, locked away let's say. For all intents and purposes, you're just a regular Snow Elf. Someone or something would need to awaken that Demon blood in order for you to experience any changes."

A sigh escaped from the teen, somewhat relieved. "That's good, then. I've got enough to deal with right now without the risk of notably Demonic features cropping up to make life more difficult." Seriously. As it was, he was certain people would have a difficult time trusting him due to his chosen class; he didn't need to add any more to it. A Necromancer was one thing, but a Half-Demon Necromancer? He could just imagine. "Anything else you'd like to inform me of, witch?" Lelouch asked, turning once again to make his way back out onto the streets of the town, though he kept his head turned to regard the woman as he spoke to her.

C.C. shrugged. "No, not really. Anything to add, Kaguya?"

The girl in question blinked. "I don't see what I could contribute to the discussion." She shrugged, beginning to follow after the elven teen. "Really, I'm just along for the ride I suppose."

"Why exactly did you bring her along, C.C.?" Lelouch couldn't help but ask. Ignoring the petulant glare this drew from Kaguya, who was giving him a look as if to say "what, you don't want me here?" the teen cast his contractor an odd look.

The green haired Dancer only offered a giggle in response. "Because I thought it would be amusing, of course. And it's already proven to be." Not five minutes after meeting the boy Kaguya had already stolen a kiss from him, a rather passionate one at that. If the girl was going to continue that sort of behavior then C.C. could only imagine how much entertainment value could be gleaned from it.

Lelouch grunted in response, not surprised that it had been such a ridiculous reason.

Kaguya, who was now walking at the teen's side while C.C. was a few steps behind them, kicked Lelouch in the shin. "... meanie." She muttered, rather put off by how negative his reaction to her arrival seemed to be.

The teen in question offered her a raised brow and after seeing her glare he relented a bit. Releasing a small sigh, he put one hand atop the girl's head and offered her a warm smile. "Sorry, Kaguya. I don't want to seem like I don't want you around, but we're in a rather... dangerous situation. I'd rather you be safely away from this mess than at my side through it."

A blush lit up the Unseelie girl's cheeks at the sudden affection, before she ceased in her glare and it descended into a sort of pout. "... I'd rather be here, beside you, though." She peered shyly at him, offering a bright smile of her own. "After everything Zero did for us, I wanted to help him however I could... and seeing you under that mask has only made me want that even more." Kaguya had openly expressed her intent to be Zero's wife, even without any idea just who was behind his mask. The man had done more for her people than anyone else could manage, he'd become a beacon of hope in the dark.

But knowing that it was her old friend, the boy who had treated her as more than the Sumeragi heiress... it wasn't like that would be a negative on his part.

Seeing the look on his face made it rather apparent that Lelouch had something to say in response to her declaration, but Kaguya wasn't having any of that. "Say, Lelouch..." She cut off whatever the boy was about to say, giving him a serious look. "You remember when I first met Zero, right? How you said that someone as tainted as you couldn't associate with a goddess in such ways?"

He frowned in response. "I do, yes." That had been soon after he had been forced to kill Euphemia. He hadn't been in a particularly bright mood.

"Well, I don't care about that." Kaguya noted with a wave of her hand, throwing him a sly smirk. "I chose you myself; not as the Sumeragi heiress, but as me."

Lelouch stifled a small chuckle. "I always wondered if you remembered that day." He'd been gathering flowers for Nunnally out in the woods, when suddenly Kaguya had come crashing into view. The girl had mistaken him for some sort of demon roaming the forest, as she had been unaware of any other residents of the shrine.

He hadn't corrected her.

That led to a whole lot of amusement for him, up until he'd begun to get more biting with his taunts. He would admit to being a somewhat bitter child at times, especially after the events of his life up until that point... but then he'd made her cry, and crying girls had never been his strong suit. He'd told Kaguya to become more than just the heiress of her clan, to be herself.

It seemed that she remembered that day quite well.

"Of course I do, it's the day I met my future husband." She replied cheekily, pressing herself up against his side suddenly and taking hold of the hand on her head, bringing it down to rest on her shoulder so that his arm was around her. "I'd wouldn't be a very good wife if I forgot."

Lelouch sighed, turning again to look at C.C. as they finally left the alleyway and entered the town proper once more. "... you're enjoying this far too much." He could hear her snickering back there.

The woman in question was entirely unrepentant. "You two are cute together." She noted with a small grin, twirling some of her hair around one finger as she watched the two of them. "I'm almost jealous." C.C. jibed lightly.

Kaguya turned her head to regard the green haired immortal with a curious look. "Why are you jealous? I've already told you and Kallen that I'm more than willing to share." She'd been pretty clear on that as well, considering she had taken to referring to the three of them as Zero's court ladies.

Lelouch blushed slightly at that statement, as they were now back on the main streets of the town and thus people were going about their own business. Said people were perfectly capable of hearing what had just been said, and it garnered some rather bemused looks from the nearest townsfolk. "... let's not make a scene, please." He really did not want to deal with this.

C.C. was, of course, unconcerned with his discomfort. The immortal witch put on a contemplative look for a moment, before fixing him with a rather predatory grin and stepping up to his unoccupied side. Without a word, she slipped herself up against his side and pulled his free arm over her shoulders.

This action was met with an irritated groan from Lelouch and an approving hum from Kaguya, as well as a variety of reactions from the nearby onlookers, which ranged from disapproving glances to outright catcalls and mock applause.

C.C. and Kaguya basked in it, whereas Lelouch could hardly keep himself from twitching. He'd been trying to avoid attention, damn it. As if his interactions with Anya hadn't fueled enough of a rumor mill, now he would have this to deal with. Speaking of Anya, Lelouch couldn't help but worry about just how she was going to react to Kaguya's rather blatant attraction to him.

And this time he couldn't even blame his misfortune on Sayoko mistaking him as a womanizer and acting out the part; nope, this was all him and his luck with women.

* * *

 _Journal of Creation; First Page: Introduction and the Basics._

 _Teacher has asked me to keep a journal of my first true automaton, detailing my efforts in bringing life to these parts. She wants each and every success and failing recorded for the future, as she feels that doing so will help later on in my life._

 _I do not see the same way, however if my teacher believes this will assist me who am I to say otherwise? Teacher has never led me astray before._

 _For the sake of introduction, this journal will detail the creation of an arcane construct widely known as an Combat-Automaton, magic and machinery merged together to create a battle ready construct to serve as a companion and weapon throughout the life of an Arcane Engineer. I, Normand Alswel, am a novice training in the ways of the Engineer in order to better myself and accomplish my goals; my first Automaton will assist me in my endeavors until such a time that it no longer functions and must be replaced. This journal shall record the birth of a new life that is not, a creature of metal and magic._

 _\- My first attempt begins today, the first day of the new month. It is a good day for a beginning. I will be constructing the basic frame based upon the blueprints I have spent weeks perfecting. I have gathered the materials, all high grade metals. I have drawn the Rune overlay, which will be copied on to the finished product. The frame will be without weapons until such a time that I am certain it shan't malfunction._

 _\- First attempt has finished. Some successes were apparent; the basic frame has come together splendidly. The construct is far from battle ready, however I can see the makings of greatness in this currently lifeless doll. The basis I have chosen for this Automaton is simple; a humanoid shape, with a larger torso and arms. It stands roughly a head shorter than myself, which is not unusual as I am notably taller than many of my peers. As such, the Automaton possesses a fairly intimidating stature, being quite stocky and durable in appearance. Durability is a priority with this construct as it is meant to serve as a protector while I bombard my foes from a more safe vantage point. While this will be my first Combat-Automaton, I am not without creations of my own. Particularly grenades, Teacher says I'm far too good at creating and improving those..._

 _\- Second Page; Bringing Life_

 _-Oftentimes, to create an Automaton is referred to as "bringing life to that which has none." Many of my peers find that sentiment romantic and delightful, but I myself see it as perhaps a bit too similar to Necromancy. Of course, this is just a personal quirk of mine. I regard the act of creation as more of a... spark of motion. Yes, to "set motion to the metals." is much more up to my personal taste. We are not, after all, truly giving life to these Automatons. They are driven loosely by the will of their creator through the arcane circuitry within their frames, not truly sentient. The extent of their consciousness is merely an extension of our own; if the creator is in danger, move. Protect. That is the limit of truly autonomous behavior among these constructs. I digress._

 _\- Today, the third day of the first month, I have embedded the arcane circuitry within my creation. It was a long, drawn out process that required patience and a steady hand, but I've finished and am certain that everything was placed as perfectly as possible for a human being. Following the installation of the circuitry within the base frame, I must now carve the runic pattern into the metals to allow the flow of energy to be unhindered by the thick metal. This will take quite a bit of time to finish, as the entire torso is thick enough to warrant this procedure... as well as the legs... and the arms. I've made quite the problematic little thing, here..._

 _\- The same night of the previous entry, I have finished the runic carving. The runes are just as alien and strange as they ever are, a myriad of arcing lines and shapes that formed into seemingly random scribbles. Despite the frantic and oftentimes confusing nature of Rune magic, the results are always quite mystifying. I look upon my handiwork and see these alien patterns and symbols etched into the bronze colored metal, tracing them with my eyes even though I'm intimately familiar with the arrangement, having drawn it myself and then applied it to the construct in the first place. And yet still the almost hypnotic beauty of these runes draws my eye, bringing a proud smile to my lips as I regard what will soon be a majestic creature of metal and magic._

 _-Third Page: Awakening_

 _\- I'm sure we're all wondering why I'm giving such fanciful titles to these seemingly unimportant notes... and frankly, so am I. It's more a flight of fancy than anything. Perhaps one day someone will read this and find them endearing, or perhaps comic. I can't really bring myself to be concerned, but they simply entertain me. Regarding the title of this entry; Awakening. We're going to be waking up my newly created Automaton today in a controlled environment, in order to test basic motion and capabilities. Should certainly make for an entertaining day, getting to see the fruits of my labors in action..._

 _\- It broke. The construct was not as sturdy as I had envisioned it; the waist, so to speak, was not capable of holding the comparably heavy torso. It was a bit thin, I admit. The construct's upper body functions, still, as it houses the Arcane Core that I've created as it's power source; the torso functions magnificently, and that is the only solace I can take from this experiment._

 _\- My second iteration of the Automaton's lower body was much sturdier. I've doubled the size of the waist, leaving it as thick as a barrel. In order to compensate for that, the legs of course had to be increased in size as well. I've made certain to provide suitable size for the feet in particular in order to provide my creation a steady gait and solid footing. Knocking this thing down would take a lot of effort before, but now I can safely say no common man nor beast will be able to topple this machine... now I need to try and figure out how to counteract the weight so it can move quicker than a snail, but baby steps. Teacher always says that a functional machine is priority number one; the rest is just bells and whistles._

 _\- It's alive! Well, not really but you get the point. I'm positively giddy at seeing the Automaton crashing about, arms like tree trunks smashing through the straw dummies I've set up. Oh, it just tossed one off into the woods with a single hand; how delightful. And that overhead smash looked positively devastating! I could just imagine someone on the tail end of that... suffice to say I'm quite excited. Back to the main point; it moves, it functions properly. Time to get to work on those bells and whistles, because goodness is this thing slow._

 _\- Fourth Page; Need For Speed_

 _\- We're past attempts for now; everything is in working order. Now I need something to boost this contraption's speed beyond what it currently has... which is to say none. It's pathetically slow. I certainly don't need it to move like a well trained Rogue, because it's a giant metal construct meant solely to serve as a highly dangerous shield for my squishy, squishy self. Moving like a drunkenly brawler is perfectly fine so long as said drunken brawler is at least somewhat quick. Time to test some things out..._

 _\- Increasing power to the legs did not provide the desired result. It moves faster, somewhat, but not enough to be a worthwhile solution. Will keep the current ratio of energy for the moment as there was a noticeable improvement; perhaps it will be cumulative with other potential solutions._

 _\- Permanent increases to movement speed seem impractical. I've moved towards more burst-of-speed type solutions, including one that I'm fairly confident in. With the solid construction of the Automaton and the extremely solid footing, I've attempted something of a leaping system using Wind propulsion runes at the back of the legs, for forward momentum, as well as the bottom of the feet for upward movement. With powerful enough Runes, I've managed to get the thing going at a rather acceptable speed in short bursts; Teacher was quite impressed by the innovation, as the large Automaton is now capable of out-maneuvering less agile foes._

 _\- Fifth Page; Weapons_

 _\- Smashing things is all well and good, but a weapon is a weapon and an Automaton can always use a weapon. I've considered a few different things, but in the end decided that the construct would fair best with close ranged weaponry primarily; moreover, the weaponry should be built in to the arms so as to prevent being lost during the Wind Leaps. Wouldn't want them to be knocked out of it's hands while fifty feet in the air; who knows where they would end up?_

 _\- Shotgun hands. It was genius. Firing shells from the palm of the construct's hand provided a brilliant surprise for anything up close, as well as offering mid-range capabilities. This will likely serve as the primary offensive weapon of the unit aside from the arms themselves being thick as tree trunks._

 _\- Retractable claws have been added into the rather thick fingers of the Automaton; the idea hit me when I pissed of Teacher's cat for the umpteenth time recently. That thing is vicious, but I can forgive it being a pain in the neck since it provided such a bout of inspiration._

 _\- I've gone a bit further on the unit's Wind Leaping capabilities, installing a few more Runes in other parts. At the back of the elbow, for instance, to provide a hefty boost to any punch. Additionally, these allow the Automaton to more easily change direction midair._

 _\- Sixth Page; Epilogue (This page is written in a much more fluid writing than the previous entries, which were scrawled quite messily by comparison.)_

 _\- Epilogue, in this case, being the end of an old friend. After a good many battles and years of service, my Goliath has finally fallen in battle. Twenty long years of life were put to an end by an enraged Fire Drake that had stumbled upon my party and I after a particularly rough battle._

 _We were wounded as is, and my Goliath had only just been repaired to what I would call combat ready. All of it's ammunition had been expended in the previous battle against a whole clan of violent Orcs who had been marching on a nearby town with awful intentions; diplomacy had failed, and thus we were forced to let our fists do the talking._

 _After that, we'd set up camp to rest... and a Fire Drake had gotten the scent of the blood left from the battle and came flying in. It was already angry, we couldn't guess from what, and as such there was nothing to do but fight._

 _Two of us were nearly killed, coming within mere feet of death by the creature's brilliantly hot flames... and I decided then and there that we were going to need a miracle to escape alive, as running from a Fire Drake would be suicide without first subduing it adequately._

 _We needed a miracle, and my dear Goliath took heed._

 _I... do not know where the sudden burst of arcane energy came from; perhaps I had, in my desperate haze, overloaded it with more energy than I knew I had. Perhaps it had been storing energy over these years unbeknownst to me due to a design flaw. Perhaps it really was just a lucky break._

 _Or, perhaps my Goliath truly had taken a life of it's own. The Automaton did not listen to my commands, though I will admit to being too exhausted to give any for it to listen to._

 _Before I knew what was happening, the stocky, sturdy and bulky construct I had deemed Goliath was prying the Fire Drake's mouth wide with it's enormous clawed hands, almost forcing it's upper body into the creature's mouth. As a Fire Drake, the creature was obviously going to respond with it's namesake; breathing a gout of fire hot enough to melt the dense metal of Goliath's frame._

 _Wind equal to a storm kicked up suddenly. The Wind runes at Goliath's feet activated, flowing with such energy that they dissipated shortly after; having been damaged beyond repair by the sudden influx of power._

 _Goliath plunged into the maw of the Fire Drake at speeds greater than anything I had seen before, meeting the rising flame within the creature's maw._

 _The explosion was positively legendary. Drake parts flew all about, with hunks of charred metal landing about the area with loud thuds. I was speechless, and we were safe. I returned to my home town without my Goliath; without the construct that had followed me through thick and thin for years on end. All that remained salvageable of the Automaton was a charred metal claw. I've fashioned this claw into a dagger, which I keep on my person at all times. I met once more with my teacher, who's face had not changed in these many years due to her Elven heritage, and told her this story. She offered me a brilliant smile, and opened the door to her workshop to me once again._

 _Tomorrow, the first day of the first month, I will begin anew; Goliath will rise once more, better than ever before._

 **\- Notes left by Normand Alswel, Adventurer and Arcane Engineer of moderate renown.**

* * *

Alrighty. New chapter ready to roll, I've done a bit of exploration into the (as of yet) unseen constructs of our Engineer class. Kaguya and C.C. are here and ready to cause trouble. Lelouch killed a dude. This chapter is heavily focused on the Swampland Party, which will likely be a trend until the current issue with the whole "cultists trying to bring back a demon lord" thing is dealt with. I'll be touching on the other parties in the next chapter, and some of them may get their own dedicated chapters later on. But for now, focus is on Lelouch and company.

As per the norm, if something is messed up then let me know and I'll probably get around to fixing it.


End file.
